Assessment of Breast Cancer Awareness Among Women of Reproductive Age in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State

Abstract

Incidence of breast cancer is increasing worldwide. Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer as a major cause of cancer death among woman according to national breast cancer foundation in 2016. The current prevalence of breast cancer in Nigeria is 12.5% which implies 1 out of 15 women are living with the disease. This worrisome development will continue to attract attentions and actions of governmentsat all levels, NGOs, health institutions and researchers. The study aims to assess breast cancer among women of reproductive age in Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State. The sample size of 110 women of child-bearing age were selected randomly across Akure south, eleven political wards through multistage sampling technique. The data generated from in-depth interviews of the informants and from secondary sources like government journals, medical publications, hospital records, NGOs Articles and internet materials were qualitatively analyzed. The study revealed that majority of the respondents did not have adequate breast cancer awareness. The study concluded that the government and critical stakeholders should adopt more proactive approaches towards effective advocacy programmes that can checkmate the high mortality rate of the disease as the existing information channels have not impacted significantly on breast cancer awareness campaigns. Therefore, it is hereby recommended that governments at all levels in collaboration with NGOs, health organizations, religious bodies, mass media, traditional institutions and other stakeholders should intensify well coordinated efforts to create the needed awareness about the scourge among the womenfolk who incidentally have the highest prevalence of the disease.