CWU backs prostate cancer campaign
30th March 2011
Members and
supporters of the Prostate Cancer Charity lobbied MPs and held a
Parliamentary reception today (Wednesday) to mark Prostate Cancer
Awareness Month.
The CWU supports the work of this organisation, which exists to fight this illness and raise awareness of the condition that afflicts some 37,000 men each year.
Prostate cancer mainly affects men over 50 and the risk increases with age. Men are two-and-a-half times more likely to develop prostate cancer if a close male relative has had it and the condition hits African-Caribbean men three times more frequently than white men of the same age.
Some 10,000 men die from Prostate Cancer annually and the charity's current campaign - Testing Choices - aims to ensure that all men in high-risk groups can access the information and one-to-one support they need to make an informed choice about whether to undergo the particular type of blood test - PSA - that can help diagnose prostate problems.
"To make an
informed choice, men need to know about the test," explains
CWU national health, safety and environment officer Dave
Joyce.
"Yet, research by The Prostate Cancer Charity shows that two-thirds of men over 50 don't even know it exists and, unfortunately, very little is being done by the NHS to improve men's awareness.
"For example," Dave continues, "the current programme for helping men think about the PSA test - the Prostate Cancer Risk Management Programme - only helps men who already know about it."
The charity and its supporters believe this has to change and that there needs to be a programme that can reach every man in a high-risk group.
"The CWU has written to all local branches, urging our members to read the literature from the Prostate Cancer Charity and also to contact their own Member of Parliament asking her or him to back the charity's aims," Dave added.
"Today's Day of Action and this month's Awareness Initiative must be the start of an effective campaign to fight back against Prostate Cancer."
For more information download the leaflet: Know your Prostate.
