CLERGY OF THE WORLD UNITE: A CALL TO
“SAVE OUR FATHERS — SAVE OUR HUSBANDS — SAVE OUR MEN”
Aventura, Florida and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, August 17, 2008 — The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink encourages clergy around the world to deliver a message, each Sunday in September (Prostate Cancer Awareness Month) and most particularly on Sunday, September 21st (the first Sunday in Prostate Cancer Awareness Week), on the life-saving benefits of early detection of prostate cancer.
Clergy can share their decision to join this initiative by leaving us a brief message at
http://prostatecancerinfolink.net/site-map/clergy/
The message is based on the theme of “Save Our Fathers — Save Our Husbands — Save Our Men” to urge men in their congregations to choose LIFE by getting an annual medical health check, including a potentially life-saving PSA test and physical examination for early detection of prostate cancer. Women in their congregations are encouraged to make sure their male relatives and friends go and get this check-up in just the same way as women go for regular mammography and gynecologic check-ups.
For 2007, the American Cancer Society said that at least 786,000 men around the world would be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and at least 254,000 men would die of this disease. The real numbers are probably much higher, because in many nations there is still minimal information about the numbers of people diagnosed with and dying from any form of cancer. In 2008, in the United States, 186,600 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer and 28,000 men will still die from this disease.
Early detection is critical to the effective management of risk from prostate cancer. While not every man diagnosed with prostate cancer necessarily needs immediate invasive treatment, the early treatment of appropriately identified patients (most particularly those who are 65 or younger and have potentially aggressive forms of the disease) can lead to a major reduction in risk for mortality. In America today, as a consequence of aggressive early detection programs, the vast majority of men diagnosed with prostate cancer (over 95 percent) will not die of their disease!
Early detection is as easy as having a simple and inexpensive blood test to detect prostate specific antigen (PSA) levels and an equally simple physical examination. The same blood drawn to check a man’s cholesterol levels can be used to check his PSA level.
We invite members of the clergy to URGE their male congregants to CHOOSE LIFE by talking to their doctor about a potentially life-saving PSA test and to use the “Save Our Fathers — Save Our Husbands — Save Our Men” theme for their sermon on September 21st. The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink recognizes “pulpit power” as a key social communication medium. “Clergy of the World Unite” is a commitment to deliver a LIFE-SAVING message to congregations around the world, encouraging men aged between 45 and 75 years of age to ask their doctor (primary care physician) for a PSA test. Clergy should also encourage women in their congregations to use their power to get their men tested for PSA levels.
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“Clergy of the World Unite” is coordinated by The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink in association with the Krongrad Institute for Minimally Invasive Prostate Surgery and Vox Medica, Inc.
About The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink: The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink includes two components:
- The primary web service (at http://prostatecancerinfolink.net ), which includes a news and opinion blog, an extensive and expanding series of articles on specific aspects that address risk for, prevention of, and diagnosis and management of prostate cancer, and a mentoring service through which people can seek answers to their specific questions
- A “social network” (at http://prostatecancerinfolink.ning.com), where patients, family members, health care professionals, and others can gather on line to learn from and support each other in addressing all the effects of this disorder
The “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink and the “New” Prostate Cancer InfoLink Social Network are not-for-profit productions of The Krongrad Institute for Minimally Invasive Prostate Surgery and Vox Medica, Inc. The service first “went live” on March 20, 2008.
