News
SACMHF team up with Orchid to help to fight Prostate Cancer
As part of Men’s Health Awareness Month Sandwell African Caribbean Mental Health Foundation hosted a Prostate Cancer information session to their Men’s Group, facilitated by Orchid.
November 2022 (also known as Movember) marked Men’s Health Awareness Month. The month of November is an annual globe campaign – dedicating the whole month to raising awareness of men’s health issues. With the focus being to support those men with prostate cancer, testicular cancer, mental health and suicide issues – Sandwell African Caribbean Mental Health Foundation organised a Prostate Cancer Awareness session with Orchid (who are a leading charity in fighting male cancer) to some of their male service users as part of the relaunch of their Men’s service called, ‘Man II Man’.
It can be hard to talk about cancer, so raising awareness of the signs and symptoms is crucial. Around 52,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer each year and approximately 11,500 will die each year as a result of the disease. Orchid spoke about some key points during their talk including risk factors such as age, ethnicity and family history.
Ali Orlan, CEO of Orchid – who facilitated the talk said: “One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime and this figure increases to one in four for black men. It is important to increase men’s timely diagnosis of prostate cancer. Therefore, it is essential that information about the risk factors which may increase a man’s susceptibility to the disease, including age, ethnicity and family history, and awareness of signs and symptoms are effectively communicated to all men.”
Suzanne Huynh, Communications Officer at Sandwell African Caribbean Mental Health Foundation said: “We invited Orchid to facilitate the Prostate Awareness information session as part of Men’s Health Awareness month. It is paramount for men. Many of our male service users who attended this session were unaware that one in four black men are at risk of developing Prostate Cancer. The men found the session very educational in providing key information of spotting the signs and symptoms. Thank You to Ali for taking the time to share this information with our Men’s group and answering any questions with ease. We look forward to working with you in the near future.”
This news item was also featured in the Express and Star online. You can read their article here.
