A Call to Men Over 50 Prostate Cancer

This is a personal one for me. Two close members of my family have been deeply affected by prostate cancer: my grandfather sadly died from the disease, and my father has recently been diagnosed at stage 4.

After speaking to the team at the Prostate Cancer UK stall during this years conference, I’ve been reflecting a lot on how important awareness and early testing are. I want to thank them for their insight, and I’d like to share a few facts with you:

Last year in South Ribble:

👉 14,120 men are living with prostate cancer.

👉 1,474 men here are newly diagnosed.

👉 And tragically, it takes the lives of 313 men.

Any man over 50 has the right to ask their GP for a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. But there is no automatic screening programme – you have to request it yourself.

That’s why I’m urging any man over 50: please book a test with your GP. It could save your life. I wish my grandad had done it earlier.

Let’s talk about it, let’s break the stigma, and let’s make sure more families are spared this pain.