By Patrick Biddah
A retired Justice of The Court of Appeals, His Lordship Isaac Douse, has proposed the setting up of an Insurance scheme, which will be dedicated to the treatment and management of cancers.
He said the cost of treating cancers is colossal, making it difficult for many patients who ordinarily would have survived are unable to afford its medical cost , hence leading to deaths.
According to him, cancer has an economic and social consequences and it therefore requires all to put their shoulders to the wheel in order to reduces it cost and effects.
Speaking at an event on June 12, 2024 to launch the Ghana National Association Of Teachers (GNAT) Cancer Foundation, Justice Douse, urged members of the general public to embrace the proposed insurance scheme by contributing the Ghc5 premium.
The launch of the GNAT Cancer Foundation is to augment and open a sustainable funding avenue for its members and their immediate families who are already benefitting from an inadequate support scheme.
The proposed insurance scheme, Justice Douse, noted, will be devoid of politics and should have all well meaning Ghanaians contributing Ghc5 a month.
Justice Douse, who is a Board member of the Sweden Ghana Medical Center, made the point that people with cancers stand 75% chance surviving when they are diagnosed early but it requires money to be able to do the necessary tests.
Justice Douse who lost his wife to cancer, noted that the painful nature of the disease turn to make patients become drug addicts inview of the medication they are made to take all the time to reduce pains .
“Cancer comes in stages 1, 2, 3 and even 4.There are opportunistic diseases that comes with cancer which put social repercussions not only on the patients but their love ones”, he noted.
Initially, possible causes of the disease was attributed to chemicals, but that narrative, he said is changing to include other risk factors such as food , bacteria, virus and polluted water.
“There are cancers of the bone , the skin , the liver and even the hair “, he pointed out.
Speaking at the same event, the Chief Executive Officer of the Sweden Ghana Medical Center, Dr. Clement Edusa, outlined the common cancers.
For the women, he said breast and cervical are common while prostate, liver and colon are rampant among the men.
“When it is diagnosed early it can be cured but when it is diagnosed late it can be managed “, he noted.
A total of 27, 000 cases, according to him are recorded annually in Ghana and this figure continue to sour.
For him, cost of treatment continues to be a challenge which is why the decision to set up a Cancer Foundation and an Insurance Scheme is most appropriate.
He revealed that the least treatment for cancer is Ghc1000 for three weeks and Ghc6, 000 at most.
For his part, the Board Chair of GNAT, Mr. Thomas Asante, noted that the Foundation is seeking to raise an amount of Ghc17.2 m.
He appealed to all to contribute to among others raise more awareness on the disease and help with treatment for members.
