The Project Pink Blue, a Health and Psychological Trust Centre (HPTC) in collaboration with the ACT Foundation, Joe Odumakin and other partners penultimate Saturday conducted Prostate Cancer (PCa) Walk and Screening for over 1,000 men in Lagos.
The initiative, tagged “Men on Blue’’ which took place at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos, started with a walk from the National Stadium through Shitta Roundabout to Adeniran Ogunsanya street and back to the stadium.
Sarah Dantsoho, Project Director, Project Pink Blue, said, “With a high number of Nigerian men dying daily as a result of PCa, it then becomes critical to create awareness of prostate cancer and the importance of screening for early detection.”
We are distributing and educating our men and providing prostate specific antigen (PSA) test; the screening costs about N11,000 but we are providing it free of charge
According to her, “This initiative is focused on prostate cancer awareness, free prostate cancer screening as well as support for those found positive.
“We have done this event in Enugu and in Abuja. In Enugu, we screened over 300 men, in Abuja we screened over 1,000 men and here in Lagos, we aim to screen over 1,000 men as well,’’ Dantsoho said.
Mrs Joe Odumakin, President, Women Arise, said: “ It is important to create massive awareness because a lot of our men hate to talk about cancer and prostate cancer is on the increase.
“ It kills but early detection is the key.”
Odumakin however advised, saying “Cancer has nothing to do with religious, political or tribal affiliation; many have also attributed it to witchcraft but we are saying, cancer is a health disease, go for periodic screening for early detection and treatment.”
Earlier in an interview , Executive Director , Project Pink Blue, Mr Runcie Chidebe, gave an insight into the burden of prostate cancer in Nigeria, saying: “statistics show that about 14 Nigerian men die daily of prostate cancer.”
He explained: “That is not to say that prostate cancer is a killer disease but the reason behind the high fatality rate is that most people find this disease at a very late stage.
“And, when you find cancer at the stage where cancer has spread from the prostate region to the bone, legs or probably vital organs like the liver, at this level nothing can be done.
“Due to this late diagnosis of and low level of sensitisation on prostate cancer in the country, Project Pink Blue in partnership with ACT Foundation aims to screen over 2000 males nationwide.
“We are distributing and educating our men and providing prostate specific antigen (PSA) test; the screening costs about N11,000 but we are providing it free of charge. Once we do this screening and one’s demand paraneoplastic subacute cerebellar degeneration (PSCD) is high, we will refer the man to be diagnosed or for additional testing.”
According to Chidebe, the foundation is also partnering other foundations to help in fund raising for people who cannot afford PCa treatment.
On some of the predisposing factors to Pca, Chidebe said: “Men of older age come down with Pca majorly because the prostate begins to enlarge mostly when people get older.
“Other predisposing factors include a history of someone who has had a family member with Pca, diet and smoking.
“People should reduce the intake of packaged and processed food and eat more of fresh food, vegetables and fruits.
“Obesity and overweight can also be risk factor, as well as exposure to some chemicals and sexually transmitted infections,’’ Chidebe said.
Mr Kingsley Ezenwa, Media and Communications Manager, Dana Air, one of the “Men on Blue’’ partners, also urged men to always go for periodic PCa screening for better prevention and treatment outcomes.
According to the WHO, cancer is a generic term for a large group of diseases characterised by the growth of abnormal cells beyond their usual boundaries that can invade adjoining parts of the body and /or spread to other organs.
It is the second largest cause of death globally and is estimated to account for 9.6 million deaths in 2018.
Lung, prostate, colorectal, stomach and liver cancer are the most common in men while breast, colorectal, lung, cervix and thyroid are the most common in
women.
