Leukemia day launched to create awareness

The Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) day was on Wednesday launched with a call on patients to seek early medical attention to make treatment easy and effective.

“Late presentation makes it difficult to treat the disease because at this stage it becomes difficult and almost out of hand,” consultant at the Department of Haematology at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr Amma Benneh-Akwasi Kuma told the GNA in Accra.

She attributed the delay in seeking medical attention to ignorance on the part of the patients, saying that, symptoms are ignored when people developed the disease.

The launch of the day, under the auspices of the CML Advocates of Ghana, an advocacy group, known as Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Advocates of Ghana (CMLAG), made up of medical doctors, researchers, patients, relations of patients and bone marrow donors, is to create awareness and tell the success stories of CML treatment in the country.

Among others, its objective is to provide a platform for stakeholders to come together to discuss clinical and non-clinical issues and treatment advances for patients.

Dr Kuma called on other stakeholders to join in the awareness-creation effort to fight the ignorance surrounding the disease.

Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia is an uncommon type of cancer of the blood cells, which typically affects older adults and rarely occurs in children, though it can occur at any age and progresses slowly than any form of leukaemia.

Symptoms of CML include fever, fatigue and weight loss, Dr Kuma said, and noted that, patients usually mistook the symptoms for malaria or typhoid and ended up either self-medicating or sought treatment for their own diagnoses.

“As a result they tend to take a long time in seeking medical advice. Even though CML progresses more slowly than acute forms of Leukemia, patients can lose their sense of hearing if they do not seek medical attention early,” she said.

Dr Kuma underscored the need to create awareness of CML, noting that, most patients were among the working class, who contributed to national development.

“The earlier we can arrest this disease in these people the better, to enable them to continue to give out their quota,” she added.

The CMLAG also celebrated a seasoned Haemologist, Dr Emanuel Boateng, whose birthday falls on the day, for his dedicated effort in bringing The Glivec® International Patient Assistance Program (GIPAP), one of the most comprehensive and far-reaching cancer access programs ever developed on a global scale to Ghana.

The Novartis designed GIPAP to provide the drug- Glivec, free to eligible patients in developing countries, who meet specific medical and socio-economic guidelines.

Dr Boateng’s effort has paved the way for patients in Ghana to receive free medication, which cost over $3,000 for a month’s medication.

The GIPAP is more than a drug donation program; its goal is to optimize successful Glivec treatment by providing patients with emotional support and increasing awareness within their communities.