George Goodman, president of Men For Living Prostate Health Awareness Group, Inc., and MFL officer and prostate cancer survivor, David Miller, have been working closely with the Cabarrus County Board of Commissioners, the local mayors and the American Cancer Society to educate the community on prostate cancer.
September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, and the group is planning events to help get the word out about the risks associated with prostate cancer and the importance of early detection.
“We are making prostate health awareness a countywide thing. It has never been observed in Cabarrus County as such,” Goodman said.
“We are starting out this year to be united in bringing awareness,” Concord Mayor Scott Padgett, said. “We want to encourage men to be screened, and encourage mothers, wives and sisters to encourage males they know to be screened.”
One in six men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, the most common cause of cancer death among men. One in 36 men will die from this form of cancer, but as with all cancer, early detection is the best tool for survival. A proclamation declaring September Prostate Cancer Awareness Month will be signed by Cabarrus County and the mayors of Concord, Kannapolis, Harrisburg and Mount Pleasant.
MFL was established in 2004 to promote prostate health, and the members are survivors and advocates of the disease. Miller was diagnosed 12 years ago at the age of 51. He went to see his doctor to have his blood pressure checked, and they found a small lump on his prostate. Miller’s father died from prostate cancer at a young age, so Miller’s odds were high. He had not been screened before that visit.
A prostate exam and a prostate–specific antigen test (PSA) can detect prostate cancer in its early stages before symptoms appear.
Having men speak out about the disease is the best weapon against it, advocate said.
“A survivor is really a success story,” Goodman said. “That’s the best success story for early detection, a survivor.”
MFL meets monthly at Price Memorial A.M.E. Church in Concord, and holds an annual breakfast in September to raise awareness. Early on, the group focused awareness in the African-American community, but it is now taking the fight to the whole community.
Goodman is working with local businessman Robert Burrage to hold a quarterly meeting that will be more accessible to all men in the community.
He notes women are relentless in battling cancer, pointing out the various breast cancer awareness groups, but men are different. Their approach to awareness is not as aggressive, but needs to be stronger.
“Men are more laid back,” he said.
Cabarrus Health Alliance has always been a partner in early detection of prostate cancer, but budget cuts and fights to reduce government spending has impacted the public health department. Free prostate cancer screenings have fallen victim to the funding cuts.
“There is a once-a-year prostate screening held by CMC-NorthEast that is a free screening,” said Dr. William Pilkington, chief executive officer and director of public health.
CHA was able to do the screening on a more regular basis throughout the year, educating the community on early detection. Breast and cervical cancer programs by CHA were also cut, due to state cuts.
“I certainly understand budget cuts, but I think it is so short-sighted. The effect on families could be devastating,” Padgett said.
“We hope there won’t be a rise in cancer numbers. I am a prostate cancer survivor, so it was important to me to get the program started,” he said. “There will be cases of prostate cancer that won’t be found.”
Pilkington explained that there are still a few places to get low-cost or free screenings.
“There is the community free clinic, community health center and other places that they can get health care services either free or subsidized basis to receive those kind of screenings,” Pilkington said.
Padgett questions the logic in budget cuts that affect the health of community at large, and wonders if in the long run, they will truly save money.
“I think we all want to pay the least taxes possible, but there are certainly things like this that don't make any sense even from a cost perspective,” Padgett explained. “From a health perspective, when a person has cancer, it affects everyone around them. Ultimately they will get treatment, but we all will be paying for it.”
The joint effort within the county aims to bring together the resources needed to reach out and educate men in the community regardless of funding by the state and federal government.
“This has been one of our goals for many years,” Goodman said.
For more information on Men For Living Prostate Health Awareness Group, Inc. or the 8th Annual Breakfast on Saturday, Sept. 24, call 704-792-2166.
Contact reporter Robin L. Gardner: 704-789-9140.
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