Most Cancers in Africa become incurable because of late diagnoses – Dr. Bismark Awo Dwobeng
MOST CANCERS ARE DIAGNOSED AT A VERY LATE STAGE IN AFRICA –DR BISMARK AWO DWOBENG
Doctor Bismark Awo Dwobeng, an Oncologist at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) has said that in our part of the world (Africa), most cancers are diagnosed at a very late stage, and this makes it incurable at times.
In an interview with Focus FM’s Blessing Doe on the Teknokrat show, Doctor Bismark stated that ‘’the treatment of cancer depends on the stage at which it is identified, and unfortunately in our part of the world, most of our cancers are diagnosed at the late stages and so when it is diagnosed at the late stage then chances of a cure becomes almost none.’’
A study by the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) shows that 70% of cancer deaths occur in low-to-middle income countries.
This is a result of late detection. According to statistics, 10 million people die from cancer every year and it is the second-leading cause of death worldwide.
Fortunately, at least one-third of common cancers are preventable and Up to 3.7 million lives can be saved each year if appropriate preventive resource strategies, early detection, and treatment are implemented.
He further stated that cancer can be treated if the cancer is detected at an early stage.
‘’Cancer has stages, from stage one to stage four. If it is found at an early stage then there is a high chance that it can be cured but the problem with us in Ghana and in Africa is that we don’t report early so by the time the person reports then it has already spread to the body and it has already attached to other structures around it. And at that stage, it is very difficult to cure, and that is why people have the perception that cancer cannot be cured permanently.’’
He ended by saying that symptoms of cancer depend on the part of the body that has been affected.
‘’Symptoms a patient would find will be dependent on where cancer starts, so if cancer starts in the breast, for example, the symptoms the person is going to experience in the initial stages are going to be symptoms specifically to the breast, ’He said.