KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr Christopher Tufton, has launched a prostate cancer awareness campaign to help reduce the high number of deaths associated with the illness locally.
Speaking at the launch yesterday, August 29 at the Hope Zoo in St Andrew, the minister said that greater focus must be placed on prevention, in order to get Jamaicans to practise healthier and better quality lifestyles “and reduce the need and the costs associated with curative measures”.
“It is a response to a growing problem that we have, and that response starts with promoting personal responsibility and awareness around the extent of the challenge [of] why we need to do something about it; and why we can be better individuals, in terms of longevity of life, by doing something about it,” Tufton said.
The campaign, dubbed the “Boss Man”, is supported by the Jamaica Cancer Society, Guardian Group, and Guardsman Group. It is projected to run for six months, during which men will be encouraged to “boss up” and get screened to preserve their lives.
“At the end, if we achieve greater awareness of the simplicity and the ‘no risk involved’ in the testing, and follow-up actions, the number will come down,” the minister said.
