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Women have done a fantastic job on bad cancer awareness, says Kevin Amphlett.
But he thinks that "prostate cancer has been largely ignored on the island despite the fact that more men die of the disease than women of bad cancer".
"The good news is that, like bad cancer, if you catch it early, you can fix it," he said.
Kevin is right: figures from the Global Forum on Cancer Research show that nearly 4,000 deaths from prostate cancer in the UK in 2016.
It is the third most common form of cancer after lung and colon cancer.
Yet, with better treatment and earlier diagnosis, the prostate cancer survival rate in the United Kingdom has tripled (from 25% to 84%) over the past 40 years.
Kevin, 60, lives and runs businesses on the island since 1998.
In 2017, Chase Templeton, the private health insurance brokerage that he founded with his wife Julie, was purchased by a buyer backed by private company shares for an amount deemed to be the highest price ever paid for an independent private health insurance broker in the UK.
He has long been known for his generosity to many local charities and was thrilled when Julie Stokes and Carole Male of the Manx Breast Cancer Support Group (MBCSG) asked if he would interested in creating a new charity for money for male cancers
The MBCSG committee realized that some of the most recent diagnostic equipment could detect earlier a range of cancers, not just bad cancer, and benefit more people on the island.
It was widely felt that the impressive work on fundraising and bad cancer awareness on the island had made prostate cancer a little "Cinderella" cause.
Kevin was eager to be involved.
He said, "I wanted to put my energy behind a specific charity.
"That, for me, sounded good, something that I could really bite with teeth."
Kevin asked two of his friends, Steve McGowan and Alex Holt, to support this new cause and help to give the necessary impetus to raise the large sums of money needed to endow the company with the money it needs to get the job done. Island of the best diagnostic equipment available, while also greatly enhancing the profile of prostate cancer.
He explained their vision and purpose: "It's important to recognize the difference between our prostate charity, Mannin Cancers, and Prostate Cancer UK.
There has been a fundraiser here on the island for the UK-based prostate charity to help research.
However, these charitable actions do not provide the essential services that are sorely lacking here on the island.
'With a population of approximately 85,000, approximately 100 men are diagnosed each year with prostate cancer. Prostate Cancer UK does not invest any of the funds raised in the direct provision of services on the islands.
"So we are very much relying on bringing patients to the UK for testing and staging of the disease because of the very rudimentary diagnostic and treatment capabilities currently in place in this country.
'This can be terribly traumatic, especially for older patients. The need for an autonomous charity has become obvious because our own health care system is in great demand and lacks funds. "
Kevin and his team looked for exactly what they needed.
He said, "We first sought the help of Dr. Stephen Upsdell, urologist, who was pleased to help define the fundraising strategy. he joined the medical council of the charity.
"He has guided the charity's goals on purchasing better diagnostic equipment to reduce the need for UK-based testing."
Their initial goal is to buy transperineal biopsy material [which can be targeted to a specific area using MRI scans] and it is expected to raise funds to buy more equipment in the future, which could potentially transform the diagnosis of various types of cancer.
Although the organization's initial goal is based on diagnosis, its long-term goal is even more ambitious and stems from the simple fact that, as surgeons specialize much earlier in their careers, the more they do it, the better they are. The island may no longer be able to withstand a wide range of risks. specialists.
Kevin said, "We do not have the population to support a lot of interventionists here."
The vision of the badociation is to do better: it would like to raise funds to provide robotic equipment that can perform endoscopic operations on the island, remotely controlled by surgeons in larger centers from the UK (or, theoretically, anywhere in the world). .
Kevin explained, "This would mean that any operation that can be performed by endoscopy can actually be performed by a surgeon who is not located here. It's a good game change. '
For now, the charity wants to encourage the development of a similar profile and profile for prostate cancer on the Isle of Man, as well as for bad cancer.
It starts with something as simple as making men more aware of the symptoms of the disease and the need to monitor them. Prostate cancer is a disease that primarily affects men over 50 years of age.
Younger men have a much lower risk of prostate cancer, although they can still develop it.
According to Kevin, older men need to be aware of the need to pbad a PSA test, a simple blood test that measures the level of specific prostate antigen (PSA) in your blood.
This can be done on a general practitioner's office and, even if it is not without its faults, it remains an essential tool to identify people susceptible to contracting the disease.
Its message to all men over 50 is simple: "When you next visit your doctor, ask them to arrange a PSA test, especially if you feel a growing urge to urinate. Catching the disease at an early stage is of vital importance. "
• The Mannin Cancer Support Group is a registered charity on the Isle of Man, number 1273. Find out about upcoming events and fundraising on their Facebook page.
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