Less Dead Men Required

The Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand is holding its national conference in Christchurch on Sunday May 19, 2024. Media are welcome to attend.

Over 4000 men are diagnosed with, and about 750 die of prostate cancer every year. Around roughly the same number of men died of prostate cancer over the pandemic time as died of Covid 19. So this is a bit of a killer.

Of particular interest is the Foundations campaign for an early detection pilot for prostate cancer in two regions of New Zealand. It has been calculated that this would cost around $6.5 million over 4 years.

Several other cancers have early detection schemes, but despite the number it kills, not prostate cancer. The foundation is calling on the government to support this $6.5 million pilot, and Budget 24 is a good time to do that. We want to walk before we run.

Based on modelling commissioned by the foundation, a two-district pilot of PSA-based screening for earlier prostate cancer detection, focusing on Tairawhiti and Waitemata, offers the potential to better understand the equity dimensions of early detection, and the benefits of a specialist detection workforce and increased use of modern diagnostic technologies. There are also substantial economic benefits.

Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand president Danny Bedingfield will open the conference at 8.30 am, and foundation chief executive Peter Dickens will also speak during the afternoon.

Guest speakers include Renee Leenen from the EAU – Erasmus Medical Centre talking about the current European pilot programme of prostate cancer screening, overview and progress report; Brittany Peck from JM Miller Law and Giovanni Losco from Urology Associates about the legal and clinician perspectives on ACC, its history and role in NZ prostate healthcare, and Sarah Weller from Movember, providing an introduction to the Movember-funded global clinical guidelines recently developed and published for sexual health: an overview of what they say and how Movember plans to mobilise them globally and in NZ.

More information on the conference and speakers can be found at: https://prostate.org.nz/national-conference