Mo Money to Fight Prostate Cancer
2 October 2014 at 3:18 pm
The international Movember Foundation has committed to spend $41.5 million to change the way men live with, and beyond, prostate cancer in a campaign being rolled out across UK, Australia, New Zealand, USA and Canada.
Described as the largest global investment in improving the quality of life for men living with prostate cancer, the organisation says its True NTH project puts the spotlight on helping men with prostate cancer and their families to overcome a range of prostate cancer side effects from sexual health to depression and helps them get their lives back on track following diagnosis and treatment.
The announcement comes as millions of men around the world prepare to donate their upper lips to the annual Movember cause.
The Movember Foundation’s Executive Director of Programs, Paul Villanti said historically, the investment into new approaches to prostate cancer care has been very low and the quality of life of many men living with prostate cancer is unacceptable.
“As treatment for men with prostate cancer is completed, many men report fear of recurrence, fatigue, distress, anxiety, depression, erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence. Not all of the required services are available to support men in these areas, yet they are vital to supporting men and their families return to living a life as normal as possible,” Villanti said.
“For all these reasons, there is an urgent need to change the way in which prostate cancer services are delivered.
“True NTH addresses this head on and will help improve the journey of men and their families living with, and beyond, prostate cancer.”
True NTH will initially be rolled out in Australia, New Zealand, USA, UK and Canada. The organisation says the services will be monitored and evaluated to ensure that there is a demonstrable impact on care with a view to scaling the programs nationally and internationally.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer worldwide for men. Over the past 25 years, a dramatic improvement in survival has been observed, partly due to earlier diagnosis and improvements in treatment.
“However, as survival rates improve, there is an overwhelming growing need to address the quality of life, the quality of care and services to help manage prostate cancer as a long-term chronic condition to help men get back to living a normal life,” Villanti said.
“The Movember Foundation is uniquely positioned to bring independent healthcare professionals, men living with prostate cancer and their families from around the world together to shape the True NTH program.
“Using money raised by Mo Bros and Mo Sistas the Movember Foundation has been able to bring these global experts together for the first time to design and implement the most comprehensive personalised programs that address the critical unmet needs of men”
Watch the True NTH Australia video
