Breast cancer advocate launches door-to-door awareness campaign

Journalist and breast cancer advocate Raissa Sambou has launched a door-to-door campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer in some rural communities in the country.

As a survivor of the disease, she is focusing on educating people outside major cities who often lack access to healthcare information and cancer treatment centers.

During the campaign, she stressed the importance of reaching rural populations with life-saving information about breast cancer symptoms.

“Prevention is always better than cure, especially when it comes to breast cancer,” she noted, explaining that early detection significantly improves survival chances.

Sambou’s personal experience has shaped her mission, as she highlighted that breast cancer treatment, which sometimes includes chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and surgery, was expensive and physically draining.

She said by promoting awareness in rural areas, the campaign aims to help prevent late-stage diagnosis, which often result in more aggressive and costly treatments.

According to her, the campaign also seeks to dispel misconceptions surrounding breast cancer, which persist in rural communities, adding that many people in these areas still view the disease with fear and misunderstanding, leading to stigmatisation of patients.

Ms Sambou also called on Ghanaians to support loved ones battling breast cancer rather than isolate them.

She revealed that the campaign, which started in Tomefa, a fishing community in the Ga South Municipality of the Greater Accra Region, is set to expand to parts of the Eastern and Central Regions.

“I do not want anyone to go through what I went through. We can all work together to change the narrative,” she said.

Sambou further expressed concern about the devastating toll breast cancer takes on families, noting that many children have been orphaned by the disease.

She mentioned that the emotional and financial strain often leaves families in difficult situations, with children losing their mothers to the disease.

She also urged the public to adopt healthier lifestyles, stressing the importance of avoiding excessive alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, and engaging in regular physical activity as key steps in reducing the risk of breast cancer.

By focusing on education and prevention, the award-winning journalist hopes her initiative will save lives and improve breast cancer outcomes, especially in underserved areas where access to healthcare is limited.