A research by a non-governmental organisation, Men’s Health Foundation (MHF,) has revealed that in every five men in Ghana one person is likely to have prostate cancer.
The findings of the research, which was done at the Foundation’s laboratory at Dodowa in the Greater Accra region, will be released today to mark World Cancer Day.
Explaining how the Foundation came by that statistics in its research, founder of MHF, Dr. Raphael Obu, toldToday in an interview that their calculation was based on the fact that Ghanaian men of West African descent did not always approach their doctors with symptoms and also were not proactive with their health.
He continued that the Foundation also factored in its research the over-reliance on herbal medicines, lack of awareness on the diseases and fear of conventional treatment resulting in men seeking late medical treatment at the hospitals.
According to Dr. Obu, the research revealed further that the lack of government will power on specific policies on prostate cancer programs and inadequate health workers to tackle prostate cancer in Ghanaian men were among some of the factors that contributed to the rise of prostate cancer cases in the country.
The MHF founder, however, underscored the need for Traditional and Alternative Medicine Practice Council to outline programmes in prostate cancer to educate the practitioners on the need for referral and collaboration to reduce the mortality rate.
“The Charity is calling on the Council to educate the practitioners on advertisement claims of treatment cure for prostate cancer as good physicians do not promise cure.
…The Charity is also calling on the public to be proactive about their own health and be vigilant on centres that promise cure and make their due diligence before choosing treatment as the cancer journey is a long journey,” he advised.
Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men and over 1,000 are diagnosed with the disease every year in Ghana.
There are currently more than a specified number of men living with the disease or after the disease, in Ghana and the Charity is calling on government to speed up with the cancer register to be able to get the actual number of men living with the disease and it kills more than 800 annually.
About 47 per cent of men with prostate cancer will experience no warning signs but when symptoms occur, they include a weak urine flow, needing to urinate more often, especially at night, and a feeling that the bladder has not emptied properly.
Some men have difficulty starting to pass urine while others dribble after they have finished.
Other men need to go to the toilet urgently, he said.
According to Dr. Obu, who is a registered Naturopathic Oncologist, “this statistics is a wake-up call to Ghanaian men about the exclusive danger they face – and we’re warning them to act on it now.”
“Fathers, brothers, partners, sons – with every fifth Ghanaian man or boy in Ghana predestined to get this potentially fatal disease at some time, it’s vital that everything possible is done to identify and catch aggressive cancers early,” he urged.
He noted that the black men physicians should wake up as most of the research in prostate cancer was based on how the disease behaved in white men than black men.
According to the Naturopathic Oncologist, it was necessary to research into prostate cancer in black men and find a better way of managing the disease and better screening services for black men.
According to the prostate cancer expert, many health professionals in the country were not even aware that black ancestry was a prostate cancer risk factor.
“What is more, Ghanaian men often don’t claim their rights to healthcare,” he said.
“They’re not first in line to see the doctor or come to our research laboratory to screen for prostate cancer or call our helpline to discuss concerns like erectile dysfunction or problems of urination.
“With so many lives at risk in Ghana, we all have to work together to ensure that Ghanaian men wise up to the issue and those affected seek and receive appropriate healthcare,” he admonished.
He cited the United Kingdom which has a prostate cancer policy for men called Prostate Cancer Risk Management Program.
Dr. Obu therefore continued that men aged over 50 were entitled to an NHS prostate cancer test even if they had no symptoms and it was is free in the UK.
To this end, he called on the government to initiate a policy on prostate cancer screening although the PSA test was not the best marker.
However, he said it was the best available tool to have a good policy program to save lots of Ghanaian men.
“ …and now we know that one in five Ghanaian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some time in his life, we therefore owe it to ourselves and our loved ones to take responsibility for our health and understand our risks.
“If you’re a Ghanaian man and over 40, speak to your doctor or call Men’s Health Foundation Ghana helpline to find out about your risk and what you can do about it,” he suggested.
He disclosed that the MHF would stage a campaign christened “Men united V Prostate cancer” to raise awareness on prostate cancer.
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