More than 100 people had free cancer screening at the PinkDrive outreach at Living Hope last week, including several men who got checked for breast cancer.
“We had a fantastic turnout of men who came out and had breast checks done. It was really great to see men being so receptive,” said Tenielle Karen, PinkDrive’s Western Cape coordinator.
PinkDrive is a non-profit company that promotes health awareness and the early detection of cancer.
In all, 69 breast examinations (23 of them done on men), 27 prostate-cancer blood tests and 21 pap smears were done on the day.
“Since Covid-19, we have noticed that men are taking more charge of their health now, and these numbers are an indication of that,” Ms Karen said.
Living Hope executive director Victor Thomas said: “When it comes to any medical situation, the earlier you find out the better. We see in our communities how young moms pass away from cervical cancer because it wasn’t detected early on, so I’m pleased that with opportunities like this with Pink Drive, people know what’s happening with their health and are educated as well.”
Debrah Pitcher came for a breast examination after a member of her family died from cancer.
“Because it runs in my family, for me personally, it was very important to get an examination for peace of mind. I encourage everyone to go out and get tested,” she said.
Samuel Sithole had a blood test done to check for prostate cancer.
“This was a good opportunity for me to know what was happening with my health,“ he said, adding that he was thankful for being able to get a free test.
Ms Karen said a self-breast examination should be done once a month, ideally seven to 10 days after a menstrual period. If you don’t get a menstrual period, the examinations should be done on the same day every month.
“We believe early detection can help prolong your life, so if you find any irregularities or a problem early enough, it can prevent you from actually having severe cancer so that you can get treatment in time,” she said.
PinkDrive offers free breast examinations on the first Wednesday of every month at its offices in Belgravia, Athlone.
To date, the organisation claims to have done more than 429 000 clinical breast examinations and 24 000 mammograms and educated more than 435 000 people on breast health.
