Milestone in cervical cancer prevention in Ghana: each of the 16 Regions now has at least one institution where women can have treatment of cervical precancer with ablation.
 
Above: Group photo of recent graduates from the last training program. The box in the center is one of the thermal ablators purchased with our global grant funds.
 
After seven years of work, the Cervical Cancer Prevention and Training Centre (CCPTC) in Catholic Hospital, Battor can now proudly say that the vision it set out to achieve is within reach. Before the last training programme, 15 out of the 16 Regions had institutions that could treat cervical precancer with ablation (thermal ablation/cryotherapy). Ahafo Region had no centre for treatment of cervical precancer. In the last training programme, two midwives from Goaso Municipal Hospital and two midwives from St. John of God Catholic Hospital, Duayaw-Nkwanta were trained.

This feat has been achieved through a USD 70,000 Rotary Foundation grant secured by the Rotary Clubs of Accra-East (Ghana) and Eau Claire (USA). In September 2023, the two Rotary Clubs presented fifty (50) thermal coagulators to the CCPTC in Catholic Hospital, Battor for distribution to health institutions across Ghana after training [1]. The thermal coagulators have now reached all 16 Regions of Ghana.

Our club also recently learned that the last cohort of health care workers is completing the training program to screen and treat cervical precancer with a thermal ablator. Since October 2023, all health care workers who graduated from the training program offered at Catholic Hospital have received a battery-operated thermal ablator for use in their home region. By the end of September 2024, all of the devices purchased by the global grant will have been distributed.

About $8,000 in funds remain from the original $70,000 grant. Rotary Club of Accra-East will be requesting permission from Rotary International Foundation to reallocate those funds towards cervical cancer awareness and prevention.