The most recent figures from the NCRI, National Cancer Registry of Ireland, show that approximately 3,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer here every year with 160 of those diagnosed being men in Mayo. The good news is that survivorship figures are improving with 93 per cent of men surviving five years post diagnosis. This year, in keeping with its ethos of making cancer less frightening by enlightening, the Marie Keating Foundation’s Get Men Talking men’s health campaign will put particular emphasis on survivorship and how men can go on to live full and whole lives following cancer diagnosis and treatment.
The foundation’s campaign will encourage people to visit www.getmentalking.ie, a dedicated and interactive website which has been developed by the foundation specifically to focus on men’s cancers. Importantly, it offers users an online ask an expert facility so that they can voice any concerns they may have in complete confidence, providing men with an informal opportunity to speak up about symptoms which they may feel are embarrassing.
Throughout the month of March, the foundation’s nurses, working through its mobile information units, will be focusing on men’s health issues. During the campaign, the units will visit over 40 men’s groups, communities and workplaces nationwide bringing with them the facts about the male cancers and messages around the benefits of talking more openly about health issues. The service is provided in an informal way and is completely free of charge. Log on to www.getmentalking.ie for more information or visit www.mariekeating.ie; call 01 6283726, to arrange for a mobile information unit to visit your organisation or to see if there will be a mobile information unit visiting a community near you.
