The National Health Students Association of Ghana (NAHSAG) has successfully launched its 2025 NAHSAG Breast Cancer Awareness Month to create awareness and empower communities to beat breast cancer through early detection and intervention.
The launch, was successfully launched on Friday, October 10, 2025, at the Ministry of Health Auditorium under the theme, “Shaping the future of women’s health for national development. Empowering communities to beat Breast Cancer through early detection and intervention.”
Speaking to the media, National President of NAHSAG, Ahmed Yakubu, says “breast cancer is one of the leading cancers that affect women” and the high rate of this cancer is of much concern to the Association.
As part of its efforts to create awareness, Mr. Yakubu believes that early detection of breast cancer saves lives and for this reason, urges all Ghanaians, particularly women to take advantage of various screenings in hospitals.
“We understand that breast cancer is one of the leading cancers that affect women. In as much as it affects men, the rate or the percentage is just one percent so our focus is on women and we believe that early detection saves lives,” he said.
He stressed on the need to take advantage of the various health screening NAHSAG will be organizing across the country, stressing that these screenings form part of the Association’s commitment to its campaign against breast cancer.
“So we are urging each and everyone; let’s take advantage of the various screenings activities we would be doing across the various breadth and length of the country.”
”It is better we tackle it earlier than it’s too late that nothing can be done about it,” he advised.
He also advocated the need to create awareness of breast cancer beyond the month dedicated to serve its awareness, stressing that the cancer can affect all.
”I am urging the general public that we shouldn’t only just dedicate this month for breast cancer awareness. Beyond the month too is very important because breast cancer, if it’s not affecting any of us, it can affect your relative, your wife, your sister, your children,” he warned.
”So, this fight is not an individual fight; it’s a fight for all of us. Government and relative stakeholders all need to get onboard for us to tackle it.”
On his part, the Member of Parliament for Nanton Constituency and Ranking Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, who also served as the Keynote Speaker for the program, Hon. Dr. Mohammed Sherif Abdul- Khaliq, also reaffirmed government’s commitment to tackling this major menace in women.
According to him, “the government of His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama is very focused, is very happy to liaise with organizations through the Ministry of Health so that we put together measures to protect our women.”
He urged the government to invest in infrastructure and human resource as means to tackle breast cancer in Ghana.
”All these, when we put them together with awareness creation, I am very sure we will win this fight against breast cancer,” he said.
He advocated for the equal distribution of health infrastructure and resources across the regions, stressing that equity bridges the gaps in tackling breast cancer.
“As member of Parliament and as Member of Parliamentary Select Committee on Health, the Committee has done a lot of work in the last eight months. We have visited almost nine regions in this country. We have visited hospitals and we’ve noted the problems with respect to infrastructure, we have noted the problems with respect to equipments,” he revealed.
”We’re putting together a report to share with the Ministry of Health and submit one also to the government. We are sure that in the short medium to long term, government too will provide a sum of those things that we are talking about.”
Benedicta Essuman, who represented the Minster of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Hon. Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, also reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to advancing women’s health and ensuring that all women are able to access quality healthcare irrespective of their financial backgrounds.
According to her, the Ministry is in continuous collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH), Ghana Health Service (GES) and other partners “to integrate gender responsive healthcare education, community outreach and social Protection support for the vulnerable in various communities.”
“Therefore, our campaign should not only be about awareness, it should also be an action,” she advised.
She called on the government, policymakers, and various stakeholders to mobilize themselves to build a future where breast cancer is no longer a death sentence.
President of the Breast Society of Ghana and surgeon at the Breast Surgery Unit in Korle Bu Teaching Hospital, reminded all women to go out to check their breast in order to detect symptoms early.
She advised women who are above age forty to start doing mammograms every year as the machine can detect the cancer even before the lumps begin to grow.
”God forbid you have breast cancer, there’s no need to be afraid. The message this year is, detect it early, treat it right, survive it. Once we’re able to detect early, we will treat it right and you can survive breast cancer.”
