Odebrecht organises prostrate cancer screening

Odebrecht Infrastructure, a global Brazilian organisation with expertise in construction and engineering, has organised a prostate cancer screening for its staff at Medlab in Accra.

The programme was organised for the male staff members to educate, empower and encourage them to become pro-active by engaging in preventive lifestyles, understand the type of cancer and how to prevent the disease through early detection.

A state statement issued in Accra by Isabel Alcobia, in charge of Communications and Image and copied to Ghana News Agency quoted Danilo Trinchao, in charge of Odebrecht’s People and Finance that “Odebrecht has consistently demonstrated its commitment to the welfare and wellbeing of its workforce.”

It said last month, “we organised a breast cancer screening and education for our female staff and this month, we organised prostate cancer screening and education for our male staff”.

“We believe that it is part of our social responsibility to bring information and awareness for our workforce and the community, these screening and education programmes are some of the health interventions we make available to our staff regularly.”

Dr Rosemary Keatley, Managing Director of Medlab Ghana and Dr Joseph Awuku-Asabre, a Urologist, who both delivered educative lectures on prostate cancer concluded that research indicates people of African descent are more susceptible to the disease, hence the need to do regular screening for early detection.

They cautioned against fatty foods, smoking, multiple sexual partners, unapproved alternative medical treatment and other risk factors that could trigger the disease.

Emmanuel Blepo, a staff member and one of the beneficiaries of the programme said: “The screening has been an eye-opener for me. I now understand the factors responsible for prostate cancer and that early detection through regular screening can help save lives.

“It is rare to see companies put particular emphasis on male health as compared to female health. So, I want to thank the Management for this live-saving intervention.”

The programme is part of Odebrecht Ghana’s way of marking November as the global Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Odebrecht Infrastructure is a global Brazilian organisation with more than 70 years’ experience, present in five continents and expertise in diversified business in Engineering and Construction, Industry and development of Infrastructure Projects.

Odebrecht’s global operations have helped promote basic education and professional qualification for the job market, engender productive initiatives that generate job and income opportunities, improve the communities’ quality of life and sustainable territorial development.

In addition, Odebrecht promotes dialogue, cooperation and commitment designed to increase the value chain’s contribution toward sustainable development, strengthening of social inclusion and the promotion of human and cultural diversity.

Through strategic technology and knowledge transfer, Odebrecht, contributes to the development of the capacity and expertise of the human resource of economies where the company operates.