Black men’s health organisation rolls out video series on prostate cancer

TORONTO:

A black men’s health organisation is rolling out a series of educational videos about prostate cancer to help raise awareness and support for those living with the condition in Ontario.

The Walnut Foundation (TWF), led by Jamaican Anthony Henry, has collaborated with TAIBU Community Health Centre to showcase a 12-part series during September, recognised as Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

Each episode features a different aspect: one has urologist Dr Neil Fleshner of the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre answering the concerns of Andre Rose, a board member of TWF; another introduces 78-year-old Reuben Smith, a 16-year survivor of prostate cancer, and in another his daughter Simone Jennifer Smith talks about how the family was affected by the news.

Filmmaker and digital creative Selina McCallum was masterful in her production of the videos which mainly show younger people on screen. The Walnut Foundation works to provide a forum for discussion in a comfortable, safe and supportive environment, within the black male community to identify its needs in the areas of health and related issues.

SURVIVAL RATE

In Canada, one out of nine men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their life. Sixty-three are diagnosed daily with 11 dying from it. Black men of West African or Caribbean ancestry have almost double the risk of developing prostate cancer compared to non-black men and the mortality rate among black men is higher than others. Data shows that black men have a 76 per cent higher rate of prostate cancer and are two times more likely to die from it. Black men tend to discover their cancer in its later stages due to not getting an early screening.

Doctors recommend that black men start screening from the age of 40. If prostate cancer is detected early, the survival rate is nearly 100 per cent at five years, 98 per cent at 10 years, and 96 per cent at 15 years. However, if it is detected late, the survival rate in five years drops from nearly 100 per cent to only 30 per cent.

“Based on the various studies that have shown that black men are disproportionately impacted by prostate cancer, given the fact that if caught early prostate cancer is treatable and curable and given the stigma, the relationship between the black communities and systems in general and the health care system in particular, reaching out to the communities through various means of health information and promotion from a trusted community organisation is very important. This is why TAIBU is honoured to support and partner with The Walnut Foundation in bringing these educational and awareness building resources,” says Liben Gebremikael, executive director of TAIBU Community Health Centre.

Winston Klass, 80, a director at The Walnut Foundation (TWF) and the lead of its Prostate Cancer Support Group, shared that his cancer was discovered through a Digital Rectal Exam (DRE). “It saved my life because that is how my cancer was found,” he says emphatically.

Veteran community leader and nonagenarian, Roy Williams, endorsed the video campaign, reasoning that to ‘be alive is the best option when dealing with prostate cancer’.

Both men are survivors of prostate cancer and advocate for black men to screen early – as early as age 40 – and regularly through Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) tests.

SCREEN EARLY, REGULARLY

Williams, a 94-year-old retired professor at Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson)and the first president of the Jamaican Canadian Association, shared that it was some 27 years ago that he was told by his doctor that he had the disease. He chose radical prostatectomy as his treatment option.

In 1996, two years after he retired, he did an annual physical and his doctor suggested that he should do a PSA test. The result led to him doing another PSA test which showed a high Gleason score – a system used to grade prostate cancer cells – and he was referred to a surgeon.

“It was diagnosed to be cancer and that word frightened me. I had never considered the whole issue of prostate, and then prostate cancer,” says Williams. He was further briefed of the consequences of the surgery: incontinence and erectile dysfunction.

He recalls that after surgery he was not as virile as he would have liked to be, but now is simply happy to be alive.

Williams said he relied on the support of his family as he was unaware of any support group in Canada or Jamaica where he lived for some time after surgery. He believes support groups help black men to overcome the stigma associated with the disease and builds their confidence that treatment is possible, and there are survivors.

He encourages black men to focus on their health and not be concerned about being stigmatised or the loss of their sexual prowess.

Klass, who sits on the board of Prostate Cancer Support Toronto, and Prostate Cancer Foundation Canada, says the video series underscores the message that men should screen regularly for prostate cancer, and it is very likely that they will catch it early.

“If you catch it early there is an almost 100 per cent chance that you are going to die from something else. It’s a very simple message that underlines everything and it goes back to screen early and it’s a simple blood test,” he says.

He says the videos gives the organisation the flexibility to play them to multiple audiences in different locations and on social media, hopefully to reach more members of the black community.