Movember highlights cancers affecting men

Men with ample bosoms (boobs) are said to have mobs, while those with less than attractive attitudes are called mitches (we all know where that one is from).
With all these mash ups being thrown around, ‘Movember’ is trending this month.
The Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Cancer Association of Botswana as well as the international community will commemorate “Movember”.
A mashed up word (portmanteau), Movember is a combination of Moustache + November.
Though relatively new here in Botswana, the ‘Movember’ phenomenon is gaining a foothold with Batswana getting to know and appreciate this cancer awareness initiative.
The Ministry of Health officially launched Movember 2013 in which officials from various departments went into the detail of how various cancers affect men and how some social, physical and financial factors affect the rates recovery.
This month-long campaign is being commemorated across the globe. Men use the month of November to put “A face on men’s health”.
Movember is commemorated in support of health programmes that combat men’s health issues, including reproductive diseases and cancers (prostate and testicular cancer and mental health challenges).
Also in commemoration of Movember, all men taking part are called Mobros. They can be identified by their moustaches which they will be growing all month.
This year, the main aim is to create awareness on neglected communicable and non communicable diseases affecting men, family planning, STIs/HIV and AIDS, male reproduction, prevention of gender based violence and healthy lifestyle including tobacco use, unhealthy alcohol use, lack of physical activity and unhealthy diets.
The presentations also addressed the rising statistics in Gender Based violence. Stakeholders in the fight against gender based violence were present at the launch.
Movember will also address the almost taboo notion of the male sexual reproductive health. The core mandate will be to encourage men to go for constant medical checkups since findings suggest that most unavoidable deaths are a result of failure to seek assistance form health facilities.