Odebrecht Ghana has organised a free Breast Cancer Screening and Education exercise for its male and female employees as part of the global breast cancer awareness month.
The main objective of the exercise is to educate, empower and encourage women to become proactive by engaging in preventive lifestyle, perform breast self-examination and get appropriate screenings every year.
A medical officer from Medlab, one of the leading medical laboratories in the sub-region, Dr. Michael Kwarfo took staff members through the process of how to self-examine the breast for early detection of breast cancer. He emphasized the importance of early detection.
According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, Ghana has an incidence rate of 2,260 per 100,000 women and 1percent of cases of breast cancer is in men. Breast Cancer is the number two cause of death in Ghana and one of the leading causes of death globally.
Vanessa Ashun in charge of Human Resource at Odebrecht Ghana noted: “There is an increasing number of cases of breast cancer among women globally and in Ghana and we at Odebrecht Ghana are investing in preventive measures to ensure the health and well-being of our staff.
Their health is important to productivity and the achievement of the corporate objectives of our organisation: a healthy workforce is a productive workforce. We organise this intervention on a yearly basis, but there are other environmental, health and safety precautions and measures we adopt on a daily basis.”
At the Screening and Education session, staff members were encouraged to, at least self-examine the breast monthly and that the more they do it the more they get better at the technique of examination.
According to Ms. Esther Oppomaah, a female staff at Odebrecht Ghana; “I always look forward to the free Breast Cancer Screening and Education exercise because it helps me a lot. There is always something new to learn and pass on to other people as well as an opportunity to have my breasts examined. This is a good initiative and we sincerely thank our management.”
Last year, Odebrecht conducted a similar exercise for its female staff. In November, there would be a prostate cancer screening and education for male staff member of the company.
Odebrecht has presence in 21 countries, including Ghana. The company has diversified business activities and a decentralized structure and does business in the fields of engineering and construction, industry, and in the development and operation of infrastructure and energy projects, creating integrated and innovative solutions that serve both its clients and communities where it operates.
