Gov’t, NGOs team up to promote early cancer detection  

GINA, GUYANA, Monday, October 31, 2016

The Ministry of Public Health collaborated with several Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) on Sunday to conduct a medical outreach for cancer screening to promote early detection.

General Medical Officer (GMO), Oncology Unit, at Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), Dr. Latoya Gooding, said that the medical outreach held at the hospital screened scores of persons for breast, cervical, prostate and oral cavity cancer.

Allan Hinds one of the persons screened said, “The outreach is a great initiative by the government in providing the screening because it is beneficial to the public.”

Hinds stressed that the male population should make it their duty to get a checkup since it is beneficial to know one’s health status. He pointed out that “many men believe that life starts at 40-years-old”, and therefore would not see the importance of screening.

Meanwhile, Health and Education Relief Organisation for Cancer’s (HEROC) President, Lorna Welshman-Neblett told the Government Information Agency (GINA) that the organisation was created to give back to Guyana, and to become a support group specifically to help persons battling cancer.

Welshman-Neblett stated that HEROC will provide 50 wigs for the women who had chemotherapy, and lost their hair so that they can feel beautiful again.

HEROC will also provide prosthetics with the matching bras for the women who had their breasts removed surgically (mastectomy) due to breast cancer however, the Giving Hope Foundation will conduct the distribution of the prosthetics, Welshman-Neblett further explained.

“We will annually visit Guyana for the breast cancer month, but we (HEROC) want to continue to work because we don’t want cancer to be only remembered in October, but all year long.”

Dr. Seyed Ghazi, Outreach Director at the Guyana Cancer Institute (GCI) said that there have been 60 new cases recorded at the institute for 2016 so far.

 

By: Neola Damon