In a personal piece, Reg Williams, the chair of one of Europe's newer men's health organisations, MHF Cymru (Wales) discusses his own experiences of prostate cancer and how it has shaped his views on men's health.
In July 2005, I discovered I had prostate cancer. Since I had no symptoms and was working normally, this news was a complete surprise. And to be told the cancer had spread and was inoperable the prognosis was not good. From that moment on, not only my life but also the life of my wife and family changed.
From the very start, I was not going to ask ‘why me?’ but decided to look at the system within the health service that let me down. At this time, a week did not go by without breast cancer being in the news one way or another, and woman most often fighting for the right to be treated. At one point a lady camped out for a week in the Welsh Assembly demanding treatment
When you compare advances in treatment and screening for men with those for women, we men have a number of major issues that would justify much campaigning. But where are male activists? The UK government will not advocate screening because we do not have a reliable non-invasive test, also it appears many doctors believe men could not cope with the stress of inaccurate PSA levels. 'We need more research' is another response. So, where is it? The PSA test has been around for 10 years now, and it is still all we have. It is well known that women get more money spent on research into their cancers than men, not by a small amount but by an estimated factor, according to the Daily Mail of 1 November 2005, of ten.
Awareness and the male attitude to health are major problems. 'Men think they are invincible,' a lady told me. This may be true but if men were given as much attention, it would help.
We must educate men to think about themselves, and it is important to start health education in our schools, about the need to be aware of the dangers and the impact when abusing their health, its implications on the individual but also the social implications at community and national levels. It is also important to recognise the support wives and partners give their men who face a life threatening illness far to often they are the driving force who have to persuade their man to see a doctor. There is a problem with men in their senior years. They have a perception that there is no way they are going to the doctor for a check up. It is no good working all your life to find you have very little chance of retiring.
With the launch of my web site - www.prostatescreeningtrust.co.uk - and my work to promote prostate cancer awareness, I became involved with the MHF in Wales. From this involvement talking with men and with charitable support agencies, I am getting a clearer picture of what men and their wives would like to see, screening, early diagnostics and health check-ups are examples. My vision for men’s health care and the need to make men take notice are both the same, if a service is not available in a national health program is there an argument to set up private facilities alongside it? It is important we look at these issues and open up the debate for the future and remember the impact that technology has to play in this decision.
Reg Williams who is 57 is Chair of MHF Cymru (Wales)
