The Chauvet 2025 meeting report: an update on current psychosocial research in vascularized composite allotransplantation.

Ghana, like lower-and middle-income countries (LMICs), is experiencing an increasing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer. The burden of cancer is becoming a growing global public health concern. It is estimated that the worldwide incidence of cancer among women will rise to 13.3 million (a 44% increase) by 2040, resulting in approximately 7.1 million deaths. In sub-Saharan Africa and Ghana, breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. In 2022, around 5,026 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in Ghana, accounting for 31.4% of all cancers in the country. Although there are no clear prevention pathways for breast cancer like those for cervical cancer (such as HPV vaccination), most empirical evidence highlights the importance of breast cancer screening for early detection and diagnosis, However, in Ghana, the uptake of breast screening practices remains low, with reports showing that 4.5% to 42.6% of Ghanaian women have ever participated in breast examinations, and fewer than 3.0% have had a mammogram. In rural communities, the lack of screening facilities; long travel distances to cities with limited screening options; priorities for work; cultural narratives around the perceived causes of breast cancer; low perceived susceptibility; lower household income; lack of insurance coverage; lower educational levels; and cultural norms such as shyness have been identified as significant barriers to the uptake of breast screening practices. Besides these barriers, informational obstacles include a lack of awareness about breast cancer screening and limited knowledge of how to perform self-examinations and where to seek clinical breast examination (CBE). In response to these structural and informational barriers to breast cancer awareness and screening, there is a growing interest in exploring how technological tools and applications can enhance screening. For example, Eden et al. have shown that using a mobile health (m-health) app can significantly reduce women’s decision conflict regarding mammography and boost their confidence in screening. Likewise, another study reports that a smartphone app increased breast screening uptake by approximately 8.9% among women in Korea. However, in Ghana, there are limited studies on the use of mobile phone applications to advance breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among women. Further, the current state of mobile phone ownership and use is unknown. The only available Ghanaian study focused on identifying barriers and facilitators, as well as women’s preferences, regarding the modes of delivering short message service (SMS) messages about cervical cancer screening in urban areas. Bonful et al.’s study focused on the urban population and did not clarify the women’s willingness to accept the intervention. Understanding mobile phone ownership, usage patterns, and populations’ willingness to engage with mobile health interventions in specific contexts is critical to developing effective, accessible digital health strategies. However, evidence on these factors among women in rural Ghana remains limited. As a result, the following research questions remain important: (a) What are the patterns of mobile phone ownership and usage among women in rural Ghana? and (b) Are women living in rural areas of Ghana willing to receive breast cancer awareness and screening information through a mobile health intervention? To address these questions and inform the development of a future SMS-based mobile health intervention, we examined mobile phone ownership and use, as well as women’s willingness to receive breast cancer-related information through mobile phones in rural Ghana. This study was conducted as part of a larger research project aimed at developing an SMS-based mobile health intervention to enhance breast cancer awareness and promote the uptake of CBE among women in Ghana. Importantly, the present formative study did not evaluate a breast cancer awareness or screening intervention, nor did it assess the acceptability or effectiveness of a specific mobile application. Rather, its purpose was to generate baseline evidence to inform the design, development, and content of a future mobile health intervention. The findings indicate that mobile phone access and use are widespread among women in the study setting and suggest that SMS-based mobile health approaches may be a feasible platform for delivering breast cancer awareness and screening information. These findings provide an important foundation for the development and future evaluation of mobile health interventions to improve breast cancer awareness and screening uptake among women in Ghana.