DURING APRIL, being observed as Cancer Awareness Month, the Jamaica Cancer Society will focus on prostate and cervical cancers.
Newly appointed Administrative Director of the Society, Marva Lee, said that the focus on these cancers was in line with the international observation of the month.
She added that in the case of cervical cancer, the second leading cancer affecting women, it was "the most preventable cancer", hence public education and awareness about the disease was necessary not only during the month, but throughout the year.
Noting that prostate cancer was the leading cancer affecting men, Mrs. Lee said that heightening awareness was very important for early detection of the disease. "Cultural hang-ups regarding tests for prostate cancer" was one of the reasons that made it necessary to focus on the disease during the month, she added.
She pointed out that data from the Jamaica Cancer Registry, which was published last year in the West Indian Medical Journal, revealed that 56.4 in 100,000 men would develop prostate cancer and 25.2 in 100,000 women would develop cervical cancer.
Activities for the Month will commence with a fund-raising golf tournament on April 6 at the Caymanas Golf Club, to be followed by church services on April 7, World Health Day.
The services will be held at the Fellowship Tabernacle on Half-Way Tree Road in Kingston at 7:15 a.m. and in St. James at the St. John's Methodist Church on Duke/Humber Avenue at 9:00 a.m.
The official launch will take place on Tuesday, April 9 at the Terra Nova Hotel on Waterloo Road in Kingston.
AWARENESS
Mrs. Lee said that during the month, the Society would endeavour to stimulate awareness through all media outlets to reach a broad section of the public. A pull-out supplement in The Star focusing on both diseases will be available on April 10 and persons with access to computers are invited to log on to www.go.jamaica.com at 7:00 p.m. and participate in a 'chat' online with Chairman of the Society, Earl Jarrett.
Adding that there was also a need to target rural Jamaica in the cancer awareness activities, Mrs. Lee pointed out that there would be a Speakers' Forum at the Morant Bay Seventh Day Adventist Church on Highbury Crescent in St. Thomas on April 24. Cancer experts at the forum will include Dr. Cecil Bachelor, who will focus on breast cancer; Dr. Mark Cadogan, a urologist who will speak on prostate cancer; and Dr. Wendell Guthrie, a gynaecologist who will discuss issues regarding cervical cancer. The public is invited to attend.
The Month will conclude with the Annual General Meeting of the Society at its offices on Lady Musgrave Road on April 30.
The Jamaica Cancer Society, a non-governmental organisation funded by private donations and fund-raising activities, opened its doors to the public in 1952. Services include its public education programme where members of the organisation speak at schools and offices; clinical services incorporating cancer tests such as pap smears and mammograms; the male clinic and mobile services; and support and counselling for cancer patients and their loved ones.
Mrs. Lee pointed out that there was a minimal fee for tests conducted at the Society.
