The Ghana Refugee Board (GRB), under the Ministry of the Interior has organised a breast and cervical cancer awareness outreach programme as part of efforts to ensure accessible, inclusive, and quality healthcare for refugees living in the Western Region.
The outreach, held in partnership with the PHIBI Foundation, at the Ampain and Krisan Refugee Camps, in the Ellembelle District, was to screen refugee women for breast and cervical cancers, and other non-communicable diseases (NCDs) like hypertension and diabetes.
The event, organised to mark this year’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month, also provided malnutrition screening for children, and consultation and referral services for the beneficiaries.
It sought to raise awareness on breast and cervical cancers among refugee women, promote early screening, and enhance their knowledge on NCDs, while strengthening community health resilience in line with the GRB’s mandate under the Ghana Refugee Law, PNDCL 305D (1992) to provide protection, care, and integration for refugees in Ghana.
Speaking on the side-lines of the event, Madam Bishara Salifu Pelpuo, the Lead Health Educator and Volunteer Health Coordinator for the GRB and PHIBI Foundation, emphasised that early detection was the most effective way to reduce cancer mortality among vulnerable populations.
According to her, equitable access to health information was a right and not a privilege, noting that although language was a barrier, the programme was a success.
She said: “This is not going to be a one-time thing because they all have their folders, and every now and then we will be coming to the camps to check on them and address their health needs.”
Mr Charles Yorke, the Western Regional Coordinator and Programme Officer for the GRB, stated that the initiative reinforced Ghana’s commitment to leaving no one behind by ensuring refugees had equitable access to quality healthcare services.
He stated that the programme was to ensure that those in the refugee community were not left out of national health initiatives, adding that the Board remained committed to conducting regular health outreaches to ensure the long-term well-being of the refugee population across the country.
“We have organised this exercise to spread the breast cancer awareness among refugee women and persons living in the host communities and give them opportunity to be screened for early detection and prevention.”
GNA
