Life-Saving Early Prostate Cancer Detection Programme Launched

·2 min read
Home
Local News
Life-Saving Early Prostate Cancer Detection Programme Launched
The content originally appeared on: St. Lucia Times News

Saint Lucia now has an early prostate cancer detection programme, providing free Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) testing to men over 40.

It is a joint initiative of the St. Lucia Laboratory Services,  the Lions Club and the Saint Lucia Hospitality & Tourism Association (SLHTA).

The programme aims to detect prostate cancer early and thereby potentially impact and save the lives of over 1000 men across the island.

The SLHTA donated $EC20,000 to the Lions Club of Gros Islet during the project launch on Thursday to ensure the initiative’s success.

“We have produced  vouchers which will be  distributed to the men in the target range of 40 to 70 through our various workplace and community outlets and when you get that voucher you will come into any of the lab outlets and you can redeem that voucher and get your free PSA test,” Dr. Steven King of St. Lucia Laboratory Services stated during the project launch.

“Those Results will be communicated to you and you will be advised and spoken to about linking with a healthcare provider,” King stated.

He noted that nine conveniently located islandwide laboratories have specialised facilities for accurate PSA testing.

According to King, even in the absence of comprehensive data regarding prostate cancer cases in Saint Lucia, the disease is a major killer.

He disclosed that there are high prostate cancer levels among Caribbean men.

Available research indicates that the region has one of the highest mortality rates in the Caribbean, surpassing various developed countries.

Dr. King revealed that when the Lions Club did its PSA screening in 2021, of 273 men between the ages of 40 and 70, 55 of them had PSAs over 10, and 40 had PSAs under 10; that’s a 34% abnormal prostate in that population of people screened.

See also

Prostate cancer survivor Sunil Ramdeen was a featured speaker who talked about his experience and pleaded with men to make getting a PSA test a priority.

Ramdeen wished he had gone for his sooner for early detection and prevention of the pain he endured.

He has authored ‘Chosen’ – a book which chronicles his experience.

Any third-party or user posts, comments, replies, and third-party entries published on the St. Lucia Times website (https://stluciatimes.com) in no way convey the thoughts, sentiments or intents of St. Lucia Times, the author of any said article or post, the website, or the business. St. Lucia Times is not responsible or liable for, and does not endorse, any comments or replies posted by users and third parties, and especially the content therein and whether it is accurate.
St. Lucia Times reserves the right to remove, screen, edit, or reinstate content posted by third parties on this website or any other online platform owned by St. Lucia Times (this includes the said user posts, comments, replies, and third-party entries) at our sole discretion for any reason or no reason, and without notice to you, or any user. For example, we may remove a comment or reply if we believe it violates any part of the St. Lucia Criminal Code, particularly section 313 which pertains to the offence of Libel. Except as required by law, we have no obligation to retain or provide you with copies of any content you as a user may post, or any other post or reply made by any third-party on this website or any other online platform owned by St. Lucia Times. All third-parties and users agree that this is a public forum, and we do not guarantee any confidentiality with respect to any content you as a user may post, or any other post or reply made by any third-party on this website. Any posts made and information disclosed by you is at your own risk.