The Development Bank Ghana (DBG) has presented a cheque for GH¢100,000.00 to the Breast Cancer Unit of the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital for the promotion of breast cancer awareness.
The donation will also cater for free surgery for breast cancer patients.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DBG, Kwamina Duker, who presented the cheque to the unit yesterday, said the development bank would donate another GH¢100,000 to the 37 Military Hospital to support breast cancer treatment and awareness.
He stated that the gesture was in line with the global effort to mitigate the pain and suffering caused to families and homes due to breast cancer.
He expressed the hope that the donation would further advance the efforts of the unit in its fight against the disease.
Mr Duker said the donation also formed part of the corporate social responsibility of the company to promote good healthcare delivery and support the awareness creation of breast cancer.
He commended the staff of the DBG who initiated the plan to contribute to raise the monies.
“This donation was internally funded by the staff and management who decided to support,” Mr Duker explained.
He also gave the assurance that the bank would continue to partner the unit to reduce the incidence of breast cancer in the country.
The CSR Lead of DBG, Barbara Wricketts, said the donation formed part of the company's drive to help create awareness of breast cancer and to contribute to the general well-being of Ghanaians.
She said the donation was part of the company’s measures to ensure that no Ghanaian woman or child suffered from any health conditions.
She added that the company was interested in the general wellbeing of Ghanaians and would continue to help improve the health of Ghanaians.
Receiving the cheque, the Head of the Surgical Department, Dr James Edward Mensah, expressed gratitude to the team for empathising with the plight of women battling with breast cancer.
“We are a teaching hospital, and we have three objectives which are treating patients, training the next generation of specialists and conducting research, so we need such machines to help in our mandate,” he stated.
The General Surgeon, Breast Surgery Unit of KBTH, Dr Josephine Nsaful, expressed concern that many women considered breast cancer as a spiritual condition and, therefore, did not seek early medical intervention, a situation, she noted, had led to many of the victims losing their lives in the long run.
She, therefore, advised women to seek early treatment as the cure for breast cancer was dependent on early detection and promptly reporting to hospitals for treatment.
Dr Nsaful said although the treatment was expensive, the national health insurance scheme absorbed part of the cost of treatment.
“The donation will also help alleviate cost of treatment for those having financial challenges,” she stated.