Breast Care International (BCI) has cut sod for the construction of a Comprehensive Cancer Center of Excellence (CCCOE) worth 100 million USD on a 52-acre land at Kwaso in the Ejisu Municipality of the Ashanti Region.
The centre, named after Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, would be the first cancer centre in Ghana where cancers would be researched, examined, and treated.
According to the Global Cancer Observatory, Ghana recorded an estimate 27, 385 new cancer cases with about 17, 944 deaths in 2022.
The Observatory ranked breast, liver, cervical uteri, and prostate cancers as the top four cancer cases recorded that year.
Speaking at the sod cutting ceremony for the commencement of the project, Dr. Beatrice Wiafe Addai, the founder of BCI noted that the absence of a CCCOE in the country was negatively affecting the treatment of cancer in the country.
She observed that the few people diagnosed with the condition who could afford treatment relied on physicians outside the country to be treated.
Therefore, the establishment of the center in Ghana which sprouted from a cancer research analysis book launch in 2022 titled: “The Lancet of Cology on Sub-Saharan Africa,” would enable easy access to the treatment of all cancer cases in the country.
Dr. Addai disclosed that currently, Prof. Wil Ngwa, the Director of the Global Health Catalyst, has an invention for the treatment of cancer to be used in Africa and Ghana would be the first beneficiary of that invention.
The President of the USA in his quest to fight the deadly disease, has extended USD 200 million to Africa, Prof. Ngwa revealed.
Though the money was huge, he noted that it could not provide the lasting solution to fighting cancer the world needed.
Prof. Ngwa, therefore, announced the intention of the USA to partner with African countries to fight cancer through its Cancer Moonshot Initiative.
The Cancer Moonshot is a White House initiative to introduce renewed leadership to the fight against cancer, facilitate new collaborations, and drive progress across the cancer journey.
Prof. Ngwa applauded Ghana for taking another major step in the fight against cancer through the establishment of the CCCOE, positioning herself at a level worthy of partnership.
He indicated that if COVID-19 could cause the world to mobilise to fight against it, then cancer requires a lot more global mobilisation to fight it because cancer has claimed more lives than COVID-19.
Prof. Ngwa said the construction of the CCCOE would not only help to address cancer but promote economic development in the country.
He, therefore, appealed to all citizens in the country to support the construction of the center through cash or kind donations, and also prioritse awareness creation on the dangers of cancer.
Prof. Oheneba Boachie-Adjei Woahene II, the Otumfuo Hiahene who represented the Asantehene, announced that the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Charity Foundation intended to support the project with USD 100,000.
He explained that the amount would be spread over five years with a donation of USD 20,000 each year as the project progressed.
GNA