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A Medical practitioner, Dr Elizabeth Korasare, has called for investment to fund studies to explore uterine fibroids (UFs) to better understand their prevalence and risk factors in the country.
She said a better understanding would improve the treatment options to better support women with the condition across the country and Africa as a whole.
Dr Korasare, who is also the Executive Director of FibFA Fibroid Foundation Africa, said the condition was a global concern as 80 per cent of women of reproductive age were affected by UFs, also known in medical parlance as leiomyomas.
“Studying the condition thoroughly will help create effective interventions to improve reproductive health and address the significant impact uterine fibroids have on the lives of women,” she said in an interview with the Daily Graphic.
Uterine fibroid is a common gynecological condition that greatly affects the quality of life of many women across the world.
It is a noncancerous growth in the uterus that can cause heavy bleeding, pain and infertility.
Dr Korasare said reports from the Ghana Health Service (GHS) indicated that over the past five years, fibroid has consistently been one of the top 10 causes of hospitalisation in GHS facilities.
She also said research in 2005 indicated that fibroids make up about 10 per cent of admissions to the gynecological ward and 40 per cent of major gynecological surgeries at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.
She also revealed that studies in 2012 indicated that 24.5 per cent of Ghanaian women were found to have UFs.
A more recent retrospective review at the 37 Military Hospital from 2015 to 2019 examined cases submitted to the Histopathology Department that out of 2,748 cases, 855 were identified as uterine fibroids, accounting for 31.1 per cent.
She said the average age of diagnosis was 40.6 years, and women of reproductive age were the most affected.
She, however, said: “The lack of comprehensive data makes it difficult to fully understand how fibroids affect women in Ghana. This gap also limits efforts to design effective programmes to address the condition and reduce its impact”.
Dr Korasare said early diagnosis was essential, as it opened up more treatment options, such as hormonal and non-hormonal therapies, which could help shrink fibroids.
“These treatments are most effective when fibroids are detected early, reducing the duration of therapy,” she added.
She said early diagnosis was particularly important for African women, who were more likely to develop multiple fibroids.
To better understand and treat uterine fibroids, Dr Korasare said there was the need to address the root cause of the disease, adding that,” Black women, especially those from both the African diaspora and Africa, where the highest number of cases occurred, should lead fibroid research efforts”.
Dr Korasare said research indicated that lifestyle, age, environment, family history and low Vitamin D levels were factors that increased the risk of fibroid.
Dr Korasare stressed that studies in Africa should focus on preventing and treating fibroids, including efforts to review medical records systematically.
“This can provide a clearer picture of the true prevalence of fibroids and reduce inconsistencies in reported cases,” she added.
