Okudzeto Ablakwa presents a cervical cancer screening machine at Battor Catholic Hospital

General News on Thursday, June 13, 2019

Source: Battor Catholic Hospital

2019-06-13

L & # 39; Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa purchased a cervical cancer screening device for Battor Catholic Hospital, North Tongu District, Volta Region.

The Battor Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Center will use this machine to detect and treat pre-cancerous cervical lesions so they do not develop into cervical cancer .

The purchase of the machine, the AmpFire HPV detection system produced by Atila Biosystems Inc. in the United States, constitutes a huge relief for the Battor Catholic Hospital.

The implications are enormous for all women in Ghana. The action of the North Tongu District MP lowers the cost of screening a woman from 100 GHS to 100 GHS if the hospital purchased the machine and transferred the cost to the women to be examined.

The AmpFire HPV Detection Test is a simple but highly sensitive HPV DNA test that allows same-day screening, follow-up, and treatment. Only one lab technician can perform up to 500 tests in one day and get results in one hour.

The gesture of the hon. Okudzeto Ablakwa will revolutionize the prevention of cervical cancer in Ghana. Women can take samples themselves at home and have them analyzed (brushes) at the laboratory. People who test negative will not need to visit a health facility and will need screening after five years. Only women who test positive should go to a health facility for follow-up and possible treatment of pre-cancerous cervical lesions, if any.

Worldwide, more than half a million women are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year, more than 85% of them in developing countries. Many developed countries have been successful in reducing the incidence of cervical cancer by instituting organized cervical cancer prevention programs involving vaccination and screening to detect precancerous lesions of the cervix of the uterus. and treat them before they develop into cancer. Unfortunately, Ghana does not have an HPV vaccination program or an organized cervical cancer screening program.

In Ghana, it is estimated that 8.57 million women aged 15 and over are at risk of developing cervical cancer.

In Ghana, cervical cancer is the second most important cancer in women. Current estimates indicate that every year, 3,052 women were diagnosed with cervical cancer, of which 1,556 die as a result of the disease in Ghana.

Dr. Kofi Effah, head of the Center for Prevention and Training of Cervical Cancer, who made an appeal two months ago to the hon. Member, thanked him on behalf of the management of the Hospital for its exemplary leadership and constant interest in the progress of Catholic Hospital Battor.