Mo-mentous campaign to fight prostate cancer

Bill Walker MSP has signed a parliamentary motion backing the success of the Movember campaign and applauded the thousands of ‘Mo Bros’ across Scotland who grew moustaches to help change the face of men’s health.

In backing the motion, Mr Walker showed his support to the Holyrood group who gave their top lips a month long razor rest and instead grew and groomed moustaches to raise awareness and funds for men’s health issues.

Movember – which aims to ‘change the face of men’s health, one moustache at a time’ – has chosen Prostate Cancer UK as its principal partner and beneficiary for funds raised in the UK. Prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in Scotland. It is almost as common – and deadly – for men as breast cancer is for women.

Mr Walker, MSP for Dunfermline, said: “I’m glad to support Movember and Prostate Cancer UK again this year. Movember is an important campaign and does an excellent job, along with Prostate Cancer UK, in raising awareness of men’s health.

“I used to supply ultrasound scanners for prostate cancer diagnosis, which made me very aware of the disease. I would absolutely encourage men to have regular PSA tests. You can request this specifically through your doctor and can also ask to be tested when you have your bloods taken.”

Owen Sharp, Chief Executive of Prostate Cancer UK, said: “Even though – on the face of it – Movember appears to be a light-hearted initiative, it has been hugely successful in raising millions of pounds to dramatically increase research into prostate cancer and enhance support services for men with the disease. It is also a fantastic way of getting younger men to start thinking about their health.

“Despite being the most common cancer in men in Scotland, and the fact that it is projected to be the most common cancer overall by 2030, prostate cancer has not received the priority it deserves historically, leaving us decades behind where we need to be. Working together, Movember and Prostate Cancer UK are helping to redress this balance by putting men’s health firmly in the spotlight.”

Since its humble beginning in Melbourne Australia in 2003, Movember has grown to become a truly global movement inspiring more than 1.1 million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to participate, to date.

So far in 2012, over 350,000 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas have registered to support the campaign, which raised over £22 million in the UK in 2011. These funds have helped support Prostate Cancer UK’s vital work fighting prostate cancer on every front – through research, support, information and campaigning.