Prostate Cancer Disparity Rally, Feb. 24
By Cash Michaels, Peacemaker Senior Contributor / February 18, 2022There’s one aspect of the COVID-19 pandemic that literally no one talks about until now.
Once the pandemic struck in 2020, prostate cancer screenings and treatments literally stopped. For Black men ages 45 and above in North Carolina, that fact means nothing but bad news.
According to the N.C. Central Cancer Registry, for every 100,000 Black men in North Carolina, 216 will develop prostate cancer per year, and 48 will die. Black men get the disease earlier in their lives compared to White men, and it tends to be more aggressive.
The American Cancer Society now says that there has been a dramatic increase in prostate cancer cases in 2021 – a 30 percent increase, along with an 8 percent increase for 2022 thus far. Case estimates for this year are 9,560 more which is the seventh highest of all 50 states. Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer deaths for Black in the United States.
That has created a present prostate cancer crisis.
A PSA test from a doctor would determine whether a man has a normal prostate, but he must request the test.
Thus, the 2022 Prostate Health Education Network’s Prostate Cancer Disparity Rally and Virtual Town Hall in North Carolina on Thursday, February 24th starting at 6 p.m.
According to Thomas Farrington, Prostate Health Education Network founder and president, the Virtual Town Hall and Rally is vital for all Black men to watch and be a part of. “Black men in North Carolina and around the country will be hit the hardest by this prostate cancer crisis,” says Farrington. “The rally’s broad radio and social media awareness campaign, culminating with our town hall meeting, aims to mobilize sustained actions towards eliminating the prostate cancer racial disparity in North Carolina.”
You can register for free for this ZOOM event at https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_LnU_4y0TQ8mA39Pi0Kdi_w.