PHILIPSBURG, Sint Maarten — The Positive and Elektralyets Foundation in collaboration with the St. Maarten Medical Center are encouraging men over the age of 45 years who have not had a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test within the last two years register now for PSA Test by sending a email to urology@smmc.sx with their name, date of birth and phone number. Pre-registration for the prostate cancer screening is strongly encouraged to avoid long lines, and to allow for proper social distancing.
September is National Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. This month was chosen to give special time specifically for prostate cancer, a highly common cancer in men. On September 25, 2021, the St. Maarten Medical Center along with the Positive and Elektralyets will host its 2nd annual prostate cancer screening from 9 am – 3pm at the St. Maarten Medical Center in Cayhill. SMMC’s urologists will be on hand to do the prostate screening for the attendees.
This prostate cancer screening session will also include blood pressure and glucose monitoringfor men and women and CPS and the Ministry of VSA will host a COVID-19 vaccination pop-up.
Healthcare professionals will also be on hand to provide information and answer any questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.
To ensure the safety of all attendees and volunteers, SMMC’s universal masking policy remains in effect and will be enforced. Persons making use of the prostate cancer screenings and the health checks will also be subjected to a temperature check and SMMC’s COVID-19 questionnaire.
Persons who are experiencing flu-like symptoms such as fever, chills, headaches, difficulty
breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, vomiting and diarrhea avoid attending the event but encourage them to make an appointment once they are no longer experiencing symptoms.
The Positive and Elektralyets Foundation is calling the men on your community who are over 45 years who have not had a Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test within the last two years to make use of this opportunity to GET CHECKED!
“While prostate cancer is a huge taboo on our island, it does not discriminate, and it could affect the ones we hold dear to our hearts. Let us be proactive in the fight against prostate cancer,” said the foundations’ presidents Shelly Alphonso and Mercedes Van der Waals- Wyatt. The foundations look forward to being a part of more collaborative events like breast cancer screenings in October 2021.
Background on our Prostate Cancer Awareness Campaign In 2019 the Positive and Elektralyets Foundations and the St. Maarten Medical Center launched the prostate cancer awareness campaign with the slogan “Man Up” “Check Up” on T-shirts, with the hope
that it would reach the macho men in our community. During the 2019 campaign over 150 men registered for prostate screening examinations.
In 2020, the foundations, embraced the challenges related to the Covid 19 pandemic, pivoting the in-person screening campaigns to the Blue Faces poster campaign. The posters feature men in our community that have volunteered to be a part of our ongoing campaign to inspire, stimulate and strengthen our call to action to help save lives on St. Maarten.
The Blue Faces are also warriors, survivors and men who understand the importance of getting checked and staying in tune with their health as men. While prostate cancer is a huge taboo on our island, the foundations hope that “MAN UP and CHECK UP” slogan will appeal to the macho men in our community and start the discussions among men older than 45 years and their health care providers.
