Today is the last day of October, the month dedicated to breast cancer awareness. This month, Malta celebrated the life of one woman who lost her battle against breast cancer. We say ‘celebrated’, because that is how she wanted to be remembered. Nirvana Ciavola Azzopardi was one of Malta’s brightest stars. The letter had read out on her behalf during her funeral was inspirational, yet the sad fact remains that a beautiful and intelligent woman had to leave this earth early, because she had a disease.

While October is referred to as Pinktober, due to the use of the colour pink in all awareness, tomorrow marks the start of Movember – November, the month of prostate cancer awareness. Just like breast cancer, it is a killer. It moves slowly and quietly and robs people of fathers and grandfathers silently. Unlike breast cancer, prostate cancer gives rise to no symptoms until it is in an advanced state. By then, metastasis sets in, the cancer spreads to the pelvic bone and from there, there is only one outcome and that is death.

The catchphrase with prostate cancer is “If you are over 40 and show no symptoms, get a test now”. And it holds so true. If this cancer is caught early, it can be cured and even if it cannot be cured, it can be slowed to such a degree that people can get 10, 20 and even 30 years more out of life.

But for it to be detected, people need to get checked. It is not a pleasurable experience, but it can save lives. Men over 40 are susceptible to it. In essence, the cancer feeds on testosterone, the male hormone which is secreted by the prostate gland.

There have been attempts to raise awareness in Malta, but there is nowhere near as much exposure to it as there is with breast cancer and that is largely due to men’s ignorance, as well as their “it will never happen to me” attitude.

But just look around and recall all the conversations that you have had with people and think of the amount of times that someone has mentioned a friend or a family relative who suffers from the disease. It is a lot more common than people think.

It also runs in people’s genes, so if someone in your family has it, it is more than likely that you could develop it at some point in your life. Women, of course, are a lot more active in promoting awareness of breast cancer. There are some very dedicated survivors out there who have delivered talks, demonstrations of how to check yourself and more. There is also the national breast screening programme and the government has also embarked on a programme to screen the older generations for colon cancer. But prostate still remains on the backburner. The Health Department needs to push the message more. The message needs to get through to Maltese men. The disease kills and can rob you of some of the most enjoyable years of your life. But at the end of the day, it is up to the individual. It is up to people to get tested, get checked and keep on top of it. But we need more awareness and that can only happen with a huge push on a national level. On a lighter note, well done to all those men who are growing their mustaches to raise awareness and funds to go towards the Movember movement.