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Could Movember still be a thing?
Growing a moustache is a way of creating awareness about prostate cancer in November. NET PHOTO
Maybe you are reading this and have no idea of what Movember is, to begin with.
Let us bring you to speed, Movember is an annual commemoration that involves growing of moustaches during November to raise awareness of men’s health issues, such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and suicide.
The beginnings
It is a month dedicated to changing the face of men’s health. Over the years, thanks to the Movember Foundation, it has become a tradition for men to skip shaving in November to create awareness with a moustache.
The foundation, started in 2003, usually uses the moustache as a driving factor or symbol to raise funds towards these causes and since inception, they have raised over $800m for 1,200 projects in 20 countries with men and women that refer to themselves as Mo bros and Mo Sistas.
Even when the foundation and their works keep spreading to different parts of the world, growing from 30 men to five million members, many cannot stop to wonder whether it still makes sense for men’s issues to be cluttered in a month or if growing a moustache is even relevant.
Some people have even started believing the day is becoming yet another chance for people to don a moustache, especially with the increasing number of celebrities and athletes.
Yet besides the fanfare that usually tends to rob causes of their good intentions, Movember is way beyond growing a moustache or taking selfies and posting about it.
For instance, one of Movember’s biggest causes, prostate cancer, is such a problem especially among men above 40.
Prostate cancer, according to Mayo Clinic, a foundation for medical education and research, is a cancer that occurs in the prostate — a small walnut-shaped gland in men that produces the seminal fluid that nourishes and transports sperm.
It is one of the most common types of cancer in men. Prostate cancer usually grows slowly and is initially confined to the prostate gland, where it may not cause serious harm. However, while some types of prostate cancer grow slowly and may need minimal or even no treatment, other types are aggressive and can spread quickly.
With the Movember activations, awareness about testing or even starting treatment as soon is usually highlighted – for the foundation, it is important to get the message out since, at the moment, causes of prostate cancer have not been documented and still, even symptoms are sketchy.
Research shows
A report published by the World Cancer Research Fund early this year noted that in 2018, there were 1.3 million new cases of prostate cancer world over. The report also said there was strong evidence that greater body fatness is a cause of advanced prostate cancer, and developmental factors (marked by adult attained height) are a cause of prostate cancer.
There is strong evidence that beta-carotene from food or supplements has no substantial effect on the risk of prostate cancer.
Statistics from Uganda Cancer Institute show 40 out of 1000 men develop prostate cancer every year, and only 46 per cent of these get to live past five years.
The lack of clear information among the people that could be at risk of prostate cancer today or in the future is one of those aspects you look out for and believe the whole Movember movement is as important.
Fun
Many may question the importance of growing the moustache but let us face it, activism would have been abandoned if it always lacked a fun aspect to it.
Think about asking people to collect money to build boreholes in Karamoja or coming back to ask the same Ugandans to contribute to improve the situation of hospitals in another rural area, they will obviously get bored at one point.
Growing the moustache creates an amount of attention towards men and it also comes with the much needed fun.
In Uganda, much as the Movember Foundation is not as active and probably nonexistent, different organisations have always taken on the mantle of headlining the fundraising, as well as creating the awareness.
And since a man’s face has been said to stand out with a moustache, definitely growing one for 30 days will drive curious ones to you and that’s probably the chance you will have to preach the gospel.
The attitude
During an interview in 2012, Belinda Namutebi, then one of the organisers of the Movember activities, noted that they had faced lots of resistance from men that did not know whether they needed testing to those that were shunning the whole thing because of the associated stigma.
Just like many other illnesses, different medical researchers have shown that men are rarely involved and probably this is where the moustache, campaigns and of course women, are needed to encourage people to go for testing.
