In Ghana, 2,797 women, including girls, are diagnosed with cervical cancer each year; 1,699 of them pass away from the disease.
Girls as young as 10 are susceptible to the illness, which is already spreading at an alarming rate. Some of these young girls grow quickly, begin menstruation at young ages, and become sexually active.
During a free cervical cancer screening on the university's campus on Wednesday, Dr. Redeemer S. Fiebor, director of health services at Ho Technical University (HTU), revealed this to the Daily Graphic.
The Volta Regional Directorate of Health, the Ho Municipal Directorate of Health, and the HTU Gender Affairs Office worked together to organize the activity.
Dr. Fiebor believed that being checked for cervical cancer and stopping its spread was the best way to reverse the trend, and the two-day activity was intended for 300 women in the Ho Municipality.
When cervical cancer is discovered early, according to Dr. Fiebor, it can be cured.
danger to males
He pleaded with men to support their wives' or partners' screening for cervical cancer, pointing out that sex might offer substantial risks for other cancers to men as well.
This is because, according to Dr. Fiebor, the HPV virus that causes cervical cancer may be transmitted to males during intercourse and cause penile cancer.
In addition, he added, the virus may potentially cause throat and oral cancer in males as some of them engage in oral intercourse with their partners.
Dr. Fiebor made it apparent that using condoms did not provide complete protection against men's or women's cancers since some of these products might rupture during sexual activity and there was no protection against the virus being transmitted during oral sex.
However, Dr. Fiebor emphasized that voluntary screening was essential since early cancer discovery ensured early treatment.
decent public reaction
The two-day exercise had a positive reaction from the general public, according to HTU's Gender Affairs Officer, Dr. Liticia Effah-Manu.
As of 1 p.m., she reported, 32 women had already had screenings, and 80 people had registered to do so. She added that other women were arriving at the HTU Clinic to undergo screenings.
Because many women were unwilling to participate in the screening, according to Dr. Effah-Manu, cervical cancer was the second most deadly malignancy that killed women worldwide after breast cancer.
She said that the activity was a component of HTU's social inclusion project, which is one of the institution's guiding principles.