Blue September- Men's Cancer Month

This month is 'Blue September', and is dedicated to raising awareness of male cancer.

"Men are almost 40% more likely than women to die from cancer, according to a report published...by the National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) and Cancer Research UK together with the Men’s Health Forum to mark National Men’s Health Week. And they are 16% more likely to develop the disease in the first place. After excluding breast cancer and cancers specific to one or other sex from the analysis, the difference is even greater – with men being almost 70% more likely to die from cancer and over 60% more likely to develop the disease."
Source: Men's Health Forum www.menshealthforum.org.uk


Blue September is a campaign run in Australia and New Zealand, and is intended to raise awareness of the high cancer rates and cancer mortality rates in males, and also to encourage preventative measures. The campaign is associated with Cancer Council Australia, and the Blue September website can be found at http://au.blueseptember.org.
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It's great to see that attempts are being made to raise funds and draw more attention to male health issues, which in my opinion are often seriously neglected. Of course, continued campaigning and support for breast cancer research etc are also essential, but something also needs to be done to increase awareness of some of the serious health issues facing Australian males.

As well as Blue September, keep an eye out for Movember, an event focusing mainly on prostate cancer and depression in men- did you know that men are 4 times more likely to commit suicide than women, and that as many men die from prostate cancer each year as women from breast cancer?
Source: www.movember.com