Jinja, Uganda | URN | Rays of Hope Hospice Jinja (RHHJ) is targeting to screen 45,000 men for prostate cancer across the Busoga sub-region and neighbouring districts as it steps up efforts to promote early detection of the disease.
The campaign follows an increase in the number of men approaching the hospice for prostate cancer screening and information, according to the organisation.
RHHJ Executive Director Sylvia Nakami said the organisation has deployed teams to markets, taxi parks and other busy public places since October 1, where an average of 40 men have been turning up for screening each day.
She said many of the men are also seeking information about prostate cancer and have expressed willingness to share what they learn with other men in their families.
Nakami said the organisation decided to expand its annual cancer awareness campaign to include men after recognising that prostate cancer was receiving less attention than breast and cervical cancers.
The campaign, previously known as the “Fight Women Cancer Run”, has now been rebranded the “Nile Cancer Run” to broaden its focus to cancer affecting both men and women.
The annual run, which started in 2018, has previously raised funds to support free cancer screening and treatment for about 200 women annually.
Nakami said the expanded campaign will focus on prevention, screening, early detection, referral for treatment and routine follow-up to reduce preventable deaths from prostate cancer.
“We have dispatched teams to markets, taxi parks and other crowded areas because we want to take the screening services to where men are,” Nakami said.
She said men are often left out of cancer awareness campaigns and tend to seek medical attention late, partly because of poor health-seeking behaviour and limited access to information.
Nakami said the Nile Cancer Run, scheduled for October 24, will provide free prostate, breast and cervical cancer screening to participants.
Medical and psychological teams will also provide treatment guidance, preventive information and counselling services.
She said the initiative will also encourage men to support cervical cancer prevention by encouraging their daughters and sisters to receive HPV vaccination.
The campaign comes amid concerns that prostate cancer is increasingly affecting men in Uganda. The Uganda Cancer Institute has identified prostate cancer among the leading cancers affecting Ugandan men.
Nakami said some men only seek care after the disease has advanced, when treatment options may be limited.
Arnold Gishamba, a prostate cancer survivor, said early screening helped him begin treatment before the disease progressed further.
Gishamba said he initially experienced unusual pain in his private parts but relied on painkillers and herbal remedies for about three years.
When the pain became more severe, he sought medical attention and was advised to undergo prostate cancer screening. He was diagnosed at stage two and started treatment.
“The realization of this disease costed me emotionally and I immediately thought about death, but through counseling, I boldly embraced the treatment and I am now fully recovered,” Gishamba said.
Vincent Ssemaganda, the LC1 chairperson of Aldina Cell, which hosts Jinja Central Market, said taking screening services to workplaces could help overcome the reluctance among men to seek medical attention.
He said many men in the informal sector are more focused on earning a living and rarely make time for routine health checks.
Ssemaganda said the mobile screening initiative had already sparked discussions among traders about prostate cancer and helped challenge myths surrounding the disease.
He said some men had previously relied on misconceptions and herbal remedies instead of seeking medical advice.
“We have always thought to ourselves that being sexually active at all times is the only way of preventing prostate cancer, where some middle-aged men are opting for multiple sexual partners to deter infection. However, with these mobile screening clinics, the medics have demystified this,” Ssemaganda said.
He said Aldina Cell, which hosts an estimated 4,000 traders during the day, provides an important opportunity to reach men who may otherwise not seek screening.
“I am voluntarily referring all middle-aged men for prostate cancer screening,” he said.
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