The City Cancer Challenge, an initiative expected to reduce mortality associated with Cancer, has been launched in Kumasi.
Kumasi is part of three other cities where the City Cancer Challenge “C/CAN 2025” is being piloted.
Head of Oncology at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Dr. Baffour Awuah, presenting the state of cancer in Kumasi at the launch, revealed that a total of 2,566 cancer cases, were recorded in a period of four years, from 2012 to 2016.
He said the C/CAN 2025 initiative had come at a time where the prevalence of cancers are higher than all other diseases.
Dr. Awuah, who doubles as the Director of the Kumasi Cancer registry said, “C/Can 2025 aims to increase the number of people with access to quality cancer treatment in cities around the world through a network of motivated partners, including city leaders, governments, NGOs, UN agencies, and domestic and international businesses.”
Health Minister, Kwaku Agyeman Manu, said the government is committed to finding ways improve cancer care and prevention.
“We have a whole big paragraph for cancer issues and that is a pledge to the people of Ghana, so Nana will deliver. And this is one of the tools my government and the President of our Country want to utilize with collaborators from outside, to do what his dreams are for cancer care and its prevention in our country.”
He believes the project will not only be a solution to mortality associated with cancer, but also will be a hub for “access to knowledge, experts across the world, developed countries that have done a lot of research that we can easily tap into research findings, the type of prescription, sources of medication…We are going the have ready access to them” he noted.
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By: Lauretta Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana