KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Malaya's Urological Cancer Trust Fund is set to launch a nationwide campaign called #onlymencan to fight against prostate cancer, in conjunction with Men's Health Awareness Month.
Led by Professor Datuk Dr. Adeeba Kamarulzaman, together with the trust funds' board member Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, the campaign will be a recurring annual event which will take place starting Nov 1, 2020, until 2024.
The campaign aimed to lower the number of newly-diagnosed advanced prostate cancer from over 60 per cent to 30 per cent by 2025.
"According to Malaysia National Cancer Registry, more than 60 per cent of prostate cancer cases are diagnosed at advanced stage, which are Stages 3 and 4.
"While the comparable statistics are much lower in Singapore, which is around 25 to 30 per cent and United States at less than 20 per cent.
"So to achieve our target of reducing the number of newly-diagnosed advanced prostate cancer, we will be adopting a multi-pronged approach," she said in a statement here today.
Dr. Adeeba said the #onlymencan campaign will take place for a month, to raise public awareness on prostate cancer via advertisements, interviews and opinion of key leaders.
"We'd be conducting knowledge enhancement programmes on prostate cancer for medical practitioners.
"Primary care doctors in both public and private sectors will be attending online training courses to learn more on the latest updates on prostate cancer screening, diagnosis and treatment in order to provide the best possible care for patients.
"We will also be setting up an #onlymencan website, dedicated for the campaign which will contain health education resources for public, patients and healthcare professionals will be built as a one-stop virtual resource centre for prostate cancer in Malaysia," she said.
Dr. Adeeba believes that a close partnership between doctors and cancer survivors will have a powerful impact on the fight against prostate cancer.
"Awareness is the first step for early detection and improving prostate cancer outcomes in Malaysia," she said.
Nazir, a prostate cancer survivor himself, said many men had died or suffered terribly because they failed to detect the cancer early enough.
"The keys for early detection are awareness and sound medical advice, so those are the priorities of our campaign this year."
In the United States where testing is more widespread, every one in nine men are diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime.
However it was also one of the most treatable forms of cancer where patients had 90 per cent survival rate if they are detected early.