A brief check!

A new campaign is hoping to spark a conversation about prostate cancer.

Marks & Spencer has teamed up with Olympic champion Sir Chris Hoy and the Marie Keating Foundation to encourage more men to take ‘a brief check’ for prostate cancer.

M&S and Sir Chris Hoy are encouraging men across Ireland to use risk checking tools that enables men to find out their risk and what they can do about it.

According to Marie Keating Foundation, one in six men will get prostate cancer and the condition affects more than 4,000 men a year in Ireland. M&S is calling on not only men to check their risk online but for the women in their lives to play a role in the conversation.

Sir Chris Hoy commented: “As men, we know we can be pretty poor at putting our health to the top of our priorities and are reluctant to talk about it, but prostate cancer often has no symptoms.

“Therefore, one simple check, really can save lives. So, my ask to everyone is to spark a conversation and check, mate.”

Until the end of March, €5 from every pack of all M&S Autograph men’s underwear will also be donated to the Marie Keating Foundation.

Urology Nurse Specialist and Director of Nursing Services at the Marie Keating Foundation, Helen Forristal said: “Men typically get a bad reputation for not speaking about their health, but when resources and supports are put in place, we see that this is not the case, and men love to talk and learn from each other.

“A campaign like this is designed to give men an opening to speak about their health with others, and this can be exactly what some men need, a little bit of encouragement to go to their GP.”