SOGOG calls for national cervical cancer screening programme to save women

The Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Ghana (SOGOG) are advocating for the establishment of a national cervical cancer screening  programme, in all health facilities at a subsidised fee.

This it said, is urgently needed to detect cervical cancer in woman at its pre-cancerous states and prevent it from progressing into uncontrollable stages, so to avoid deaths.

Speaking at the 10th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the organization in Accra,  Professor Alexander Tawiah Odoi, President of SOGOG said the low knowledge of the disease among the public, had made it the second most frequent cancer among women aged 15 to 44.

“Current estimates indicate that every year, 3151 women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and 2119 of them die as a result,” he said.

Prof. Odoi observed that improving reproductive healthcare in Ghana entailed the expansion, redesign and re-allocation of resources to change social and cultural perceptions about reproductive health interventions.

Dr. Owen Kaluwa, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said it is prudent for the organisation to put in more efforts, to ensure access to quality essential reproductive health services to everyone everywhere.

He urged the SOGOG to deliberate and come up with strategies to improve access to reproductive health care and also pay attention to components that would strengthen maternal health care in all parts of the country.

“The 2018 Atlas for African Health Statistics showed that Ghana still has a lot of work to do to reach the Sustainable Development Goal targets for Reproductive, Maternal, New-born, Child and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH),” he said.

This he said was a clear indication that business as usual would not help Ghana to attain the RMNCAH targets for 2030, hence, the need to accelerate actions and adopt innovative approaches in implementation programmes.

Ms Cynthia Mamle Morrison, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection said Ghana has a population of 8.57 million women aged 15 years and older, who are at a risk of developing cervical cancer, yet  “there is no organised cervical cancer screening programme in the country.”

She added that SOGOG could provide national leadership with discussions on increasing access to reproductive health, by convincing development partners and the government to develop evidence-based policies.

Source: GNA

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