Ho,- Professor Margaret Kweku, Lecturer at the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Health and Allied Sciences (UHAS), Hohoe Campus, has urged personnel of the Ghana Police Service to regularly go for medical check-ups to know their health status.
She said health was important in executing tasks with effectiveness hence personnel who were protecting the peace and security of the country had to go for regular check-ups to remain healthy and not wait until they are sick before seeking medical attention.
Professor Kweku, speaking at a health screening exercise organised by UHAS in collaboration with the Volta Regional Police Command for personnel and their relatives in the Region, said health screening was essential in the early detection of diseases.
More than 100 personnel and their relations were screened for cervical cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and Hepatitis B and were also lectured on causes and symptoms of these diseases, ways of reducing the risk factors, and counselled on how to live a healthy lifestyle.
The Epidemiologist said it was good to take necessary steps to prevent diseases rather than contracting them before seeking medical treatment.
Meanwhile, not every disease had a cure so regular check-ups were imperative.
As health specialists we are advocating for prevention, the reason we are taking our services to communities is to let people aware that the services are available, she said.
The Professor said when people were diagnosed with pre-cancer, they could be treated, noting that health screening had helped many of the countries across the globe to deal with diseases and should not be limited to health facilities.
Professor Kweku said most people heard of cervical and breast cancers but had no opportunity for screening to know their status, a situation which was not helpful in the fight against the diseases.
The Public Health Specialist disclosed that every year about eight million women in Ghana were at risk of developing cervical cancer, over 3,000 were diagnosed with the disease while over 2,000 died of it.
The Lecturer said it was important for people to be concerned about their health as regular check-ups helped in identifying problems early for redress to forestall such situations from escalating.
She said cervical cancer was caused by the human papillomavirus and that people who had a low intake of fruits and vegetables, multiple sexual partners, increased parity, excessive exposure to nicotine among others were at risk of contracting the disease.
Professor Kweku said about 90 per cent of women had the disease through sexual intercourse while 10 per cent had it through non-sexual means such as sharing fomites with an infected person.
Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Effia Tenge, Director of Public Affairs, Volta Regional Police Command, told Ghana News Agency the two-day exercise was aimed at improving the health conditions of the personnel.
She advised the men and women of the Service to take advantage of such opportunities to know their status and take necessary measures to avoid being predisposed to some of the risk factors.
DSP Tenge said as the law enforcement agency, they hardly get these kinds of opportunities, urging every officer to embrace the exercise so they would remain healthy and productive.
She was grateful to UHAS and hoped that the exercise would be extended to Municipal and District Commands in the Region.
Police Sergeant, Deborah Obeng, one of the beneficiaries, speaking to GNA described the exercise as helpful, saying she heard of cervical cancer but never had the opportunity to screen.
She was grateful to the Command and partners for the programme to address their health needs.
Police Corporal, Stephen Duho, said the lecture had enlightened him more about prostate cancer and ways of preventing it and expressed his appreciation to the Command and UHAS for the initiative.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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