FOR the fourth consecutive year, the Rotary Club of Montego Bay East will highlight Prostate Cancer Awareness Month in Montego Bay and its environs by inviting men in western Jamaica to take advantage of a free cancer screening event slated for tomorrow at Sam Sharpe Square in St James.

“September is Prostate Cancer Awareness Month,” Rotary Club of Montego Bay East President Curt Ward stated. “And since the start of the month we have been supporting the education of the male population throughout our parish about prostate cancer, and urging them to take advantage of early diagnosis through screening.”

The Rotary Club of Montego Bay East’s efforts are primarily focused on their free annual prostate cancer-screening initiative, the impact of which has grown from 120 beneficiaries in its first year to approximately 600 at its last staging.

Dale Davis, rotarian and event conceptualiser, highlighted the impetus behind the continued staging of the event.

“Since the staging of our first screening in 2012, we have witnessed a paradigm shift in the thinking of men in western Jamaica, resulting in a near exponential growth in the level of participation in our free screening,” Davis informed.

“We are, therefore, obligated and motivated to maintain the momentum by engaging the community to ensure that men talk about prostate cancer and continue to come out to be screened. The event facilitates early detection and, as a result, could have a positive impact on overall national health care costs,” he explained.

The screening session during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month will take place at the Montego Bay Cultural Centre, Sam Sharpe Square, starting at 5:00 am, on September 28, and will continue to 2:00 pm.

The Rotary president welcomed the support of three key partners: the National Health Fund, the Cornwall Regional Hospital and the Jamaica Cancer Society with the mounting of the cancer-screening event in Montego Bay and encouraged employers to assist staff members to get screened.