"Giving Cancer the Boot"
By Peter Harper
Research carried out by the Marie Keating Foundation has found that 40% of men would adopt a “wait and see attitude” if they had doubts about their health, instead of going to their GP.
The Marie Keating Foundation, which works to increase awareness of men’s and women’s cancers, was in Galway to mark the Foundation’s campaign on male cancer prevention and awareness, ‘Giving Cancer the Boot’, which is running for the month of March.
Now in its 4th year, the campaign aims to reach out to men, informing them on a range of male cancers – from prostate to testicular – as well as instilling the importance of early detection of these illnesses.
Lillian McGovern, of the Marie Keating Foundation, said of the campaign: “It’s a sort of play on the whole idea of the rugby theme but it’s done in a light-hearted way to try and get the message across that men, as much as women, need to be concentrating and focusing on their health.”
She agreed that the area of men’s health was often neglected, receiving less attention than women’s health but stressed that organisations such as the Marie Keating Foundation were trying to change this imbalance.
“If we look at the international symbol for breast cancer – the pink ribbon – it’s fairly well recognised right across the world. People would instantly recognise it for what it is. When it comes to men’s issues, I suppose because men don’t actually come out and talk about it, it’s probably about 20 years behind in terms of raising awareness,” she said.
The National Cancer Registry reports have proven that a regional bias exists in cancer treatment and survival rates, with higher survival rates for those living in Dublin and Mid-Leinster. While the majority of the work of the Marie Keating Foundation tends to be in the East, Ms McGovern explained that the organisation was taking steps to address this.
“In a sense we’re concentrating on the areas where there are more people. So for us to get our message across, holding an event in Dublin has a greater likelihood of being more successful,” she said.
“This month, however, we’re effectively running a road show around the country so our Community Mobile Information Units are going to companies, communities, stores, right across the country, including the West, and our trained nurses are on hand to talk to people on a one-to-one basis and indeed go into workplaces where groups of men are gathering so they’re actually giving talks specific to men’s health and to men’s cancers.”
The Foundation was also instrumental in the launch of a new book, ‘The Men’s Health Book’, earlier in the month. Written by Waterford GP, Dr Mark Rowe, in a non-threatening and commonsense style, it covers all aspects of men’s health including cancer prevention.
