High cancer mortality is due to poor nutrition and lifestyles

Accra, May 15, GNA - Mrs Margaret Attuahene, a Lecturer at School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon, on Friday said available statistics indicated that about 30 per cent of cancer mortality was due to nutrition and unhealthy lifestyle among people.

She said excessive fat and alcohol intake, some artificial sweeteners and preservatives found in foods such as corned beef, luncheon meat and hot dogs could be linked with cancer in the colon, stomach, breast, mouth and liver. Mrs Attuahene announced this at a two-day workshop organised by management of AfrOx, a UK-based NGO established to improve the delivery of cancer care in Sub-Saharan Africa, for health professionals in Accra.

She noted that breast cancer in particular was becoming a common phenomenon in developing countries, including Ghana, because many households preferred to eat traditional nutritious foods over highly processed sugar and fat-laden choices.

Mrs Attuahene said excessive alcoholic consumption could result in cancer of the mouth, liver and the breast adding "it is sad that some Ghanaians are becoming notorious for excessive alcoholic intake". She recommended the intake of frequent, small and easy to swallow meals. "If you eat in bulk and at a go, it puts pressure on the digestive system, it is important to eat and chew thoroughly for easy digestion," she added. Mrs Attuahene said maintaining a healthy body weight was an important way to prevent cancer, and could be done through eating fruits and vegetables regularly and foods containing omega-3-fatty acids, mostly found in fish. Mrs Annie Young, Director of Cancer Network in England and a facilitator at the workshop said some of the challenges facing the cancer programme in Ghana included lack of awareness of the symptoms, limited resources and logistics for health practitioners and some superstitious beliefs about the disease. She called for effective outreach programmes as well as other communication activities through the media in particular and other sectors to sensitise the public on early diagnosis and prevention of cancer.

Miss Vanita Sharma, Project Manager of AfrOx, explained that the workshop was to promote understanding of how cancer risk could be minimised and how proper health and lifestyle changes could be adopted to build greater recognition of the signs and symptoms of breast, cervical and prostate cancer in Ghana. She said an information and advocacy for cancer awareness and prevention code would be produced in a variety of forms and translated into Twi and publicised throughout the country to create awareness of the disease.