Happy Movember!
No. That isn't a typo.
We put together a team of 60 brave men and women at work who are going to participate in the month-long findraising effort for prostate cancer called Movember.
On Movember 1st, guys register at Movember.com with a clean-shaven face. For the rest of the month, these selfless and generous men, known as Mo Bros, groom, trim and wax their way into the annals of fine moustachery. Supported by the women in their lives, Mo Sistas, Movember Mo Bros raise funds by seeking out sponsorship for their Mo-growing efforts.
Mo Bros effectively become walking, talking billboards for the 30 days of November. Through their actions and words, they raise awareness by prompting private and public conversation around the often ignored issue of men’s health.
Since its humble beginnings in Melbourne Australia, Movember has grown to become a truly global movement inspiring more than 1.1 Million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to participate, with formal campaigns in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and Ireland. In addition, Movember is aware of Mo Bros and Mo Sistas supporting the campaign and men’s health cause across the globe, from Russia to Dubai, Hong Kong to Antarctica, Rio de Janeiro to Mumbai, and everywhere in between.
No matter the country or city, Movember will continue to work to change established habits and attitudes men have about their health, to educate men about the health risks they face, getting them to act on that knowledge thereby increasing the chances of early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment.
In 2010, nearly 119,000 Canadian Mo Bros and Mo Sistas got on board, raising $22.3 million CAD. We're now a part of this happy team!
Why the focus on men's health?
- On average men live 4-5 years less than women
- 1 in 7 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime
- 25,500 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer this year in Canada
The reasons for the poor state of men’s health in the Canada and around the world are numerous and complex and this is primarily due to a lack of awareness of the health issues men face. This can largely be attributed to the reluctance of men to openly discuss the subject, the old ‘it’ll be alright’ attitude. Men are less likely to schedule doctors’ appointments when they feel ill or to go for an annual physical, thereby denying them the chance of early detection and effective treatment of common diseases.
Studies show that many men don’t get regular health checks for the following reasons:
Fear it will lead to a hospital visit
Embarrassed to discuss their health issues
Find it too hard to see a doctor because they just can’t fit it into their schedule
Just can’t be bothered making an appointment
Statistics show that, on average, men die at a younger age than women – the average life expectancy for men is five years less than women (presently 77 compared to 82). That said, despite trailing behind the women’s health movement, things are beginning to look brighter, but much more progress needs to be made to close the gap between the state of men and women’s health. Established taboos and barriers relating to men’s health are gradually being broken down.
Movember aims to change the face of men’s health and reverse this way of thinking by putting a twist on this serious issue. Using the moustache as a catalyst, we want to bring about change and give men the opportunity and confidence to talk about their health more openly.
I invite you to support me by donating to me http://mobro.co/jdeq. You can even go old school and write a cheque payable to “Movember Canada”, reference my name and Registration Number 1342944 and send it to:
Movember Canada, 119 Spadina Avenue, PO Box 65, Toronto, ON M5T 2T2
If you'd like to find out more about the type of work you'd be helping to fund by supporting Movember, take a look at the Programs We Fund section on the Movember website: http://ca.movember.com/about
I'll pop in periodically with pics of the burgeoning moustache!