‘Fantastic’ turnout for free PSA screening

BY: Carlos Atwell
Nation News Barbados

Men set out yesterday to prove wrong all who think they do not care enough about their health.

So many men showed up for the free prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening at MQI, Wildey, St Michael, there was hardly room to move around.

The event, called Green Hearts For Blue Ribbons: Real Men Get Checked, was hosted by Cemix, in with the Barbados Cancer Society. We have sponsored screenings with breast cancers and child cancers, donated more than $100 000 to the Cancer Ward, and sponsored trips for children to get treatment overseas.

This year it’s about the men and the prostate. Today we’re covering the cost of the screenings along with MQI,” she said.

The crowd of men who came to be screened for prostate cancer filled the MQI showroom. (Picture by Carlos Atwell.)

Griffith said battling cancer was partnership with the Barbados Cancer Society and MQI. Cemix marketing manager Alicia Griffith described the turnout as “fantastic”. She said the men had been gathering since 8:30 a.m., causing them to start the screening an hour earlier than the scheduled 10 a.m.

“This is our fifth year in partnership one of Cemix’s core community focuses and their staff, comprising mostly men, had already undergone screening.

Cemix is a member of the Jada Group. Chief executive officer of the group, Philip Tempro, said it was a part of the group’s social responsibility to help raise awareness about prostate cancer and prevent deaths. Radio personality Kevin “Kb Kleen” Hinds took part in the screening. He praised the businesses for their interest in the health of society. “It’s important for the private sector and the health sector to provide things like this because without a healthy society, what do you have?” he said.

Hinds said he was over 40 so he got himself checked regularly. “You have to take care of yourself; you have to realise your body changes over time and you need to drop the macho act for the sake of your families,” he said. (CA)

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