Cape Town – The hairiest month of the year, November, might be over, but funds raised by the Movember campaign will make a real difference in fighting prostate cancer.
Movember’s annual fund-raising campaign creates awareness of prostate cancer by encouraging men to grow moustaches and beards.
Men’s Foundation of SA’s founder and chief executive, Garron Gsel, highlighted the Movember campaign’s role in the Ironman registry, saying the registry is a global study evaluating the treatment and patient-reported outcomes for 5 000 men with advanced prostate cancer.
The registry collects information about a patient’s type of prostate cancer, their treatment and what side effects they may be experiencing to determine the best way of managing advanced prostate cancer.
“New therapies are on the rise, but we need more information to discover which treatments work best in the real world, for real people, so we can improve the lives of men living with advanced prostate cancer and identify what they need most to thrive.
“We want men to live happier, healthier and longer lives. Men die on average six years earlier than women and for reasons that are largely preventable.
“A lot of time and energy goes into ensuring that every rand raised by the Mo community is put to good use. We accept donations all year round, raise awareness of men’s health issues, and work hard to ensure that funds are invested in programmes that provide men with the best choices and treatment options available.”
Gsell said that in South Africa the R6 million Ironman registry was co-ordinated by the Cancer Association of SA (Cansa) and implemented at the hospitals of Groote Schuur, Tygerberg, Steve Biko, Charlotte Maxeke and Rosebank Oncology.
“Ironman is the Movember Foundation’s biggest single investment into one project since the global men’s health movement officially launched in South Africa in 2010.”
Gsell said the Movember Foundation funded over 1200 projects in 21 countries worldwide.
Countries participating in the Movember campaign include Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK and the US.