Lifeline for Childhood Cancer, Ghana (LCCG), a non-profit organization providing treatment and care for children with cancer, on Saturday held a health walk at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital to raise awareness and campaign against childhood cancer in Accra.
This is part of activities lined-up for this year’s 2019 World Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.
The 7.2 Kilometer walk started around 7:00am from Korlebu through Mamprobi, Laterbiokorshie, Kaneshie and Abossey-Okai, Mortuary Road, and ended around 9:30am.
The walk saw doctors from the Department of Child Health of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital participating, as well as other health volunteers and the general public.
Other activities lined-up to expand the awareness base are blood donation & health screening at the Achimota Mall, blood donation & health screening at the Accra Mall and a fund-raising dinner to support childhood cancer treatment.
Aside from raising funds for child cancer victims and their families, LCCG has also been involved in various campaigns of this nature urging parents and families to seek early treatment since Child Cancer is curable.
LCCG is dedicated to making childhood cancer control a national health priority, providing support to families affected by childhood cancer, creating awareness about childhood cancer among health workers and the general public, and increasing access to optimal treatment for cure.
Akua Sarpong, Executive Secretary of LCCG in an interview underscored the need to create awareness about childhood cancer among health workers and the general public, as well as increasing access to optimal treatment to cure cancers.
She mentioned that a report by the LCCG has revealed that about 300,000 children are diagnosed with cancer every year. Approximately, 80 percent of the world’s children with cancer live in low middle-income countries where more than 80 percent die of the disease.
“In Ghana, even though there is no comprehensive epidemiological data on the magnitude of childhood cancers, it is estimated that about 1 in 500 children will be affected by 15 years of age.
…This is according to evaluation data from more developed countries. Hence, with Ghana’s over 24 million population, it is expected that about 1,000 children below 15 years of age wouls be affected yearly. Most cancers, frequently seen at the Paediatric Cancer Unit, are lymphomas, leukemia, kidney cancers, eye cancers, and others,” Akua Sarpong mentioned.
So far, the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, and the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, are the only hospitals having comprehensive Paediatric Cancer Units with about 300 cases seen yearly in total by the two centers.
Due to the expensive nature of the treatment processes and the drugs, childhood cancer has often led to huge financial burdens on families and in most cases death of infants.
The post 2019 Childhood Cancer Awareness Month opens with a health walk appeared first on Citinewsroom - Comprehensive News in Ghana, Current Affairs, Business News , Headlines, Ghana Sports, Entertainment, Politics, Articles, Opinions, Viral Content.
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