It’s that time of the year again.

Movember 2018 is just around the corner, and everyone is raring to begin their month-long shaving hiatus. As we prepare to see the best and wackiest moustaches that Movember 2018 has to offer, this year’s theme, ‘Stop Men Dying Too Young,’ reminds us of the cause we support by putting aside our razors once a year.    

The Movember Foundation has been operational for the past 15 years and is currently the leading men’s health charity in the world. The foundation’s goal coincides with this year’s theme, and over the span of a decade and a half, Movember has funded over 1,200 projects focused on men’s health, with an aim to reduce young men’s mortality rate by 25 percent in the next 12 years.

Movember 2018 objectives   

The Movember Foundation plans to achieve this by focusing on three serious conditions: prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and mental health. In 2018 alone, 164,690 new cases of prostate cancer, which is the second most common cancer affecting men in America, were reported, and 29,430 people died from it [1]. Close to 10,000 new cases of testicular cancer were diagnosed this year. Although only 1 in 250 men develop testicular cancer in their lifetimes, an approximate 400 deaths have been recorded in 2018 [2].    

The Movember Foundation contributes to biomedical research projects that look for better treatments of prostate cancer and testicular cancer. In addition to that, it runs several initiatives that focus on helping men with mental conditions with a focus on reducing men’s suicide rates.   

Different programs

Changing Rooms is one such program. The football-based project, which was launched this year in April, has worked successfully in bringing together men through a mutual love of football but with an aim to guide them towards better mental health. The program focuses on teaching men how to manage mental health issues like anxiety and depression.   

The Global Action Plan, the foundation’s biggest global initiative, tackles the needs of prostate and testicular cancer patients, ensuring that every patient gets the social, psychological, and physical support needed to increase their survival rates. With such a high success rate in the UK, the project is exploring how intensive exercise can also improve the survival rates of prostate cancer patients.   

TrueNTH is an initiative that was formed under the same principles and is currently the Movember Foundation’s largest global project, serving a total of eight countries. Its main aim is to improve the quality of life for testicular cancer patients and their loved ones. Thus far, the organization has achieved this through improving the availability of healthcare professionals, introducing support programs, and providing useful treatment information to the patients.   

TrueNTH advises a proactive approach to managing testicular cancer through the supported self-management program, which encourages men to perform regular checks on themselves and to look out for symptoms of both testicular and prostate cancer. It has also launched a portal [3] where patients of testicular cancer can access information on how to cope with their condition.    

The Movember Foundation has funded numerous suicide prevention and mental health projects to provide support to men with mental health issues, and to give them the encouragement to talk to others about their problems. In addition to that, the charity also launched Ex-Cell 50+, a re-integration program targeting older male offenders who are looking to set up businesses within the community.    

In summary

As you witness the madness of wild moustaches this Movember, remember that at the heart of the campaign lies a serious cause to curb the premature deaths of young men all over the world. The charity has dedicated itself to bettering the lives of people across the globe by tackling issues that men rarely open up about. As you participate in Movember 2018, you can also help by spreading awareness about the problems that bring about early deaths in men, and how Movember is aiding in their eradication.   

Mayfair, we care.

Sources   

1. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/prostate-cancer/about/key-statistics.html   

2. https://www.cancer.org/cancer/testicular-cancer/about/key-statistics.html   

3. https://truenth-tc.org