Persons suffering from cancer across the West African Sub region can now seek treatment Accra, Ghana.

The Sweden Ghana Medical Centre which was inaugurated on Wednesday is fully equipped with ultramodern medical equipment to assist in the treatment of all kinds of cancers.

According to Vice President John Dramani Mahama, the facility will help the entire sub region especially, Ghanaians to seek affordable cancer treatment right here in the country.

He pointed out that people resort to seeking specialized cancer care outside the country due to the inability of the public hospitals in Ghana to treat some forms of cancers.

He expressed the hope that “this ultramodern facility that has the latest state of the art equipment, will no longer make it necessary for people to bear the high cost of travelling to Europe or South Africa to receive cancer treatment.”

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor graced the ceremony as he cut the sod for the project four years ago.

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Vice President John Dramani Mahama has inaugurated a multi-million cedi medical centre that will provide specialized breast and prostrate cancer treatment in the country.

The Sweden Ghana Medical Centre (SGMC) which was financed by Global Medical Investments of Sweden and some Ghanaian investors located at Ajiringano, East Legon, would offer radiotherapy (the use of radiation to cure cancer) and chemotherapy (the use of surgery for cancer treatment) service.

Vice President Mahama, who jointly inaugurated the project with former President John Agyekum Kufuor and the wife of the Asantehene, said the facility would be instrumental in health delivery since cancer was one of the leading diseases in Ghana besides malaria, hypertension and other chronic diseases.

He said it was only the Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals that had cancer treatment centres in the country and that the establishment of the SGMC would significantly support cancer treatment in the country and those within the West African sub region.

Mr. Thomas Pollar, Chief Executive Officer of the Centre, said the facility would use modern equipment to ensure early detection and treatment of cancer and urged the public to check their status to ensure early treatment

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CANCER PATIENTS in the country and beyond have been assured of total health care delivery at the Sweden Ghana Medical Center Limited (SGMC) which offers oncology services.

The health facility offers curative radiotherapy treatment, chemotherapy, pain control programs, psychosocial support and clinical trials to cancer patients.

Other programs available include cancer prevention, patient education and diagnostic CT scans among other services.

The center which also aims at actively participating in cancer care development and improving the outcome of cancer ailments in Ghana and Africa will provide affordable health care services to patients.

Dr Thomas Pollare, CEO of the company, who took journalists on a tour of the health facility said for most cancer cases, surgery is the most important treatment but it is often combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy to improve the outcome.

“Some cancers, such as prostate, head, neck can be cured by surgery alone, whereas diseases like lymphomas and leukemia can be cured with chemotherapy,” he stated.

He disclosed that when cancer is not curable it can often be treated to improve the patient’s quality of life and prolong his life and in these situations radiotherapy and chemotherapy form the basis of such treatment.

Dr Pollare further explained that both breast and cervical cancers in women, and prostate cancer in men are all potentially curable if detected early.

“Too many patients are diagnosed with cancer at a stage when it cannot be cured. Our primary objective includes enabling residents of the West African sub-region to be treated by state-of-the-art cancer treatment techniques and methods in combination with high efficiency and competitive prices,” he observed.
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Dr Thomas Pollare, Chief Executive Officer of Sweden-Ghana Medical Centre (SGMC), on Monday said the Centre is committed to offer cancer care services to Ghana and West Africa, using state-of-the-art techniques.

He said SGMC ran a comprehensive cancer care facility which aimed at developing a centre of excellence for various cancer care modalities, adding that a Medical Advisory Board made up of internationally respected doctors, in collaboration with a local medical team, had been constituted.

Dr Pollare was speaking at a press briefing after a tour of the facility at the centre at Nma Djor in Accra in the Adenta Municipality.

The centre operates a basic cancer care unit, which includes Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Computerize Tomography Scan, as well as offering consultation and advice to cancer patients.

Dr Pollare said the facility, which was established in 2007, was initiated at the instance of a Scandinavian Care Project AB based in Stockholm and financed by Global Medical Investment, Swedfund and Elekta, as well as some Ghanaian investors.

He said the SGMC was faced with human resource challenges and the bad nature of the road network leading to the center.

Dr Pollare said another major challenge was the possibility of having full time Ghanaian Medical Engineers, Radiographers and Radio-Oncologist to assist the facility. “What has been done so far is a collaboration of both local and foreign personnel for the needed support.”

Dr Pollare said the SGMC had plans to add more advanced radiotherapy, basic diagnostic equipment, intensity modulated radiotherapy, bigger ultra modern Chemotherapy Suit, a 50- bed hospital and, at a later stage, a patient hotel in the near future.

He said the SGMC (needed the support of Ghanaians, especially the media, to carry the message of good health care across the country and the West African sub-region. “It is our hope that Ghanaians and other neighbouring countries will give us the needed support to give them the best health care.”

Cancer is a class of diseases characterised by out-of-control cell growth and has over 1000 different types, with each classified by the type of cell that was initially affected.

It is also characterised (www.replicapro.com) by a cluster of cells forming a tumor. Apart from the uncontrolled cell growth, cancer has the capacity to invade surrounding tissues and spread to other organs.
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The Sweden -Ghana Medical Centre (S-GMC) has established a multi – million building cancer unit with well equipped cancer unit facilities to help save Ghanaians who are suffering from such sickness.

Although, most Ghanaians who are suffering from such sickness see it as the last point in their lives, the Chief Executive Officer ( CEO) for SGMC, Dr. Thomas Pollare, has argued spiritedly  that cancer is not a death sentence as some people are made to believe by sections of the media and the general public.

According to him, the disease is curable but needs an expert to tackle it, adding that, some people who suffer from the sickness in the early stages sometimes seek divine intervention instead of going for early medical treatment.

Dr Pollare, made this known at a press briefing after a tour of the facilities at the centre at Nma Djor, in the Adenta Municipality of the Greater Accra Region. He said death with relation to cancer would soon be a thing of the past with the establishment of the State- of- the- Art Plant.

“We are committed to offer cancer care services to Ghana and West Africa, using the state-of-the -art techniques and methods” he said.
Meanwhile, SGMC runs a comprehensive cancer care facility, aimed at developing a centre of excellence for various cancer care modalities .A Medical Advisory Board has been founded with internationally well respected doctors in collaboration with a local medical team.”

The centre operates basic cancer care unit, which includes Radiotherapy, Chemotherapy, Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Computerize Tomography Scan as well as Consultation and advice to cancer patients.

The CEO explained that the objective of the initiative was at the instance of Scandinavian Care Project AB, based in Stockholm and finance by Global Medical Investment, owned by Swedfund and Elekta, and some Ghanaian Investors.

The CEO who sounded worried over the bad nature of the roads that led to the centre appealed to the government to come to their aid since dust was really causing a lot of harm to the health of the patients and the citizenry around.

For his part Dr. Olof Stahl, an oncologist at the centre said the major challenge was the possibility of having full time Ghanaians Medical Engineers, Radiographers and Radio-Oncologist to assist the facility.

He however, added that the aforementioned problem will be solved in two years times. He said the SGMC has future plans of adding more advanced radiotherapy, basic diagnostic equipment, Intensity modulated radiotherapy, bigger ultra modern Chemotherapy Suit and a 50- bed hospital.
Dr. Olof Stahl, said the SGMC needed the support of Ghanaians, especially the media, to carry the message of good health across the country and the West African sub-region.
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Accra, May 11, GNA – Mr Kingsford Alban Sumani Bagbin, Minister of Health, on Friday expressed the hope that Sweden would continue to be a good partner of Ghana in the development of health, education and agriculture.

He said Ghana would associate itself with Sweden because Sweden was ranked one of the best in the world in the management of both human and material resource.

Mr Bagbin said these when he toured the Sweden-Ghana Medical Center (SGMC) in Accra, to familiarize and acquaint himself with the authorities and operations of the Center.

He said the Ministry of Health would support the Center to achieve its goal of providing good quality health care for Ghanaians and people of the West African sub-region.

Mr Bagbin said the treatment of cancer was expensive and Ghana would collaborate with the Center to make the treatment of the disease affordable to Ghanaians.

Mr Bagbin said plans were far advanced to replace obsolete cancer equipment at the Korle Bu and Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospitals with the state-of-arts equipment, to facilitate the diagnose and treatment of cancer.

He said Government would support the Center and hope that doctors at the facility would impact their knowledge to Ghanaian medical practitioners to help provide quality health care delivery.

Dr Henry Broni-Amponsah, Board Chairman of the SGMC, said the facility assisted cancer patients who could not fully pay for the treatment, and added that the Center would next month launch the Sweden-Ghana Foundation for cancer treatment, to solicit funds to support the poor and needy, who cannot pay for cancer treatment.

Dr Broni-Amponsah said the centre needed full time Ghanaian medical engineers, radiographers and radio-oncologist and added that “What has been done so far is a collaboration of both local and foreign personnel for the needed support.”

He appealed to Government and the media to support the Center to propagate the message of good health care across the country and the West African sub-region.

Cancer is a class of diseases characterised by out-of-control cell growth and has over 1000 different types, with each classified by the type of cell that was initially affected.

The disease is also characterised by a cluster of cells forming a tumor and apart from the uncontrolled cell growth, cancer has the capacity to invade surrounding tissues and spread to other organs.

The centre was established in 2007 at the instance of a Scandinavian Care Project AB, based in Stockholm, and financed by Global Medical Investment, Swedfund and Elekta, and Ghanaian investors.

The centre, which operates a basic cancer care unit, consisting of radiotherapy, chemotherapy, magnetic resonance imaging and computerize tomography scan, offers consultation and advice to cancer patients.

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The Ministry of Health has initiated a policy to make Ghana a health tourism destination in Africa by creating specialised health centres of excellence for the treatment of complicated diseases.

The essence is to attract people from all over Africa to Ghana to seek medical care for such complicated diseases and thereby rake in some income for the nation.

The Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH) in Accra, the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) in Kumasi and the Tamale Teaching Hospital (TTH) in Tamale have been earmarked to play a leading role in the health tourism initiative, with the private sector providing the requisite partnership.

The Minister of Health, Mr Alban Bagbin, made this known during a facility tour of the Sweden Ghana Medical Centre (SGMC) Limited, a cancer treatment centre located at Adjirigano, near Accra.

It is an ultra-modern medical facility of international standard endowed with the best of medical equipment and specialists and touted as the second high-calibre cancer treatment centre in sub-Saharan Africa, after the one in South Africa.

Services provided at the SGMC include curative radiotherapy treatment, chemotherapy, pain control programmes, psychosocial support, clinical trials for treatment improvement, cancer prevention programmes and patient education programmes.

When the project is fully completed, the centre will provide more advanced radiotherapy, more basic diagnostic equipment, a 50-bed hospital,a  bigger, ultra-modern chemotherapy suit, a patient hotel and the integration of other medical specialties.

Mr Bagbin was highly impressed with the facilities and programmes at the centre and noted that the SGMC would contribute significantly as a private sector partner to the vision of making Ghana a health tourism destination.

He made reference to the recent inauguration of a modern orthopaedic medical Replica Hermes Bags centre at Pantang near Accra, another private sector initiative with the involvement of Ghanaian expertise, as a positive sign of realising the dream of making Ghana a health tourism destination.

The minister was happy to observe that the rate of exodus of medical professionals in Ghana to overseas was reducing, adding that the “brain drain” that hit the country in the past was now becoming a “brain gain”, with many Ghanaian medical experts returning home.

He said with the Single Spine Salary Structure (SSSS) in place for health workers, “many more of their brothers and sisters feel conditions are now good and so they want to come back home”.

He said the provision of a good working environment for health workers Louis Vuitton Luggage Replica and the creation of an enabling legal environment were also giving confidence to Ghanaian medical experts abroad to return home.

Mr Bagbin spoke fondly of Sweden as a nation that got its priorities right and expressed the hope that that country would extend more support to Ghana with the view to expanding the cordial relations that existed between the two countries.

He was particularly happy that the SGMC had plans to establish a cancer Replica Celine Gourmette Chain Bags foundation to support the cost of cancer treatment, especially for the poor, and pledged his ministry\’s support to the SGMC in its operations, considering the major challenge cancer
posed to the nation.

The Board Chairman of the SGMC, Dr Henry Broni-Amponsah, announced that the Sweden Ghana Cancer Foundation would be launched next month.

He said many philanthropists in Sweden had promised to support the foundation and urged Ghanaians to lend their support in order to cushion the cost of cancer treatment.

The Clinical Medical Director of the SGMC, Dr Olof Stahl, said Swedish medical officers were happy to collaborate with their counterparts in Ghana to help improve cancer care in the country.
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Sweden Ghana Medical Centre (SGMC) receives the latest and most advanced system for non-invasive cancer treatment – Multi-leaf linear accelerator in Accra. This makes SGMC the number one to own such equipment in the entire sub-region next to South Africa.

Sweden Ghana Medical Centre is a comprehensive oncology centre offering state of the art chemotherapy and radiotherapy. SGMC is a private initiative, established with the aim to bring cancer care services using cutting edge techniques combined with the Scandinavian treatment touch, high productivity and competitive pricing.

This is one of the most prestigious health care projects in Ghana. The very idea is to offer both Ghanaians and the people of the sub-region “on-the-edge-cancer treatment techniques”, previously only available overseas and in South Africa.

Modern cancer treatment often includes several treatment modalities, such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
So far in Ghana there has been the need for the latest radiotherapy equipment (which is a Linear Accelerator) to complement the cobalt units we currently have in Accra and Kumasi. SGMC has installed an advanced Linear accelerator with capabilities determined for patient comfort and safety.

The dual-energy linear accelerator is now available for advanced treatments at high energies, thereby allowing more sophisticated treatment options with less patient discomfort. The multi-leaf collimator provides the capability of doing conformal treatments in threedimensions as the multi-leaf is used to shape the radiation beam. This is supported by state-of-the-art treatment planning capabilities that is able to generate treatments using the latest IMRT techniques. The CT and MR scanner helps the doctors to see the target and will provide an outstanding tool for viewing the tumour.

SGMC will collaborate with specialist doctors both nationally and internationally to ensure cancer management and treatment decisions according to the best international standards.

SGMC is open to the public and we offer oncology specialist counseling and treatment management including chemotherapy and radiotherapy in an outpatient setting.