MALE CANCER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN LAUNCHES FILM SUPPORTED BY BELSTAFF
Male Cancer Awareness Campaign is pleased to introduce ‘Embarrassed’: a Sir Steve McQueen film, produced by Lammas Park. The film and subsequent campaign have been created to help raise awareness of prostate cancer within the black community.
The initiative is supported by British brand Belstaff and features Idris Elba OBE, Chiwetel Ejiofor CBE, Micheal Ward and Morgan Freeman. The film will be screened for the first time on 25th November at the Tate Britain in London, a gallery where Sir Steve McQueen has previously exhibited.
A study by Public Health England published in July 2015 by BMC Medicine showed that 1 in 4 black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer, and 1 in 12 black men will die from the disease. When compared to the results for other major ethnic groups in England, this data shows that black men are twice as likely to be diagnosed with, and lose their lives to, prostate cancer than white men.
This campaign raises awareness by highlighting these statistics for all men. Its mission is to encourage men to arm themselves with knowledge and overcome the stigma and embarrassment around getting tested – because early diagnosis saves lives.
Six years ago, Male Cancer Awareness Campaign set about generating a hard-hitting awareness campaign to highlight this information to the black community to effect change. Patrick Cox, the charity’s Founder and now Volunteer CEO, set his sights on securing British filmmaker and visual artist Sir Steve McQueen to direct and co-produce this important campaign film to capture the attention of the community.
“ We are asking the Black community to start the conversation about prostate cancer with family, friends, work colleagues and the wider community. Black men are in the higher risk category from prostate cancer and early detection is key. We know this film has the ability to help save lives. Don’t be embarrassed.”
Patrick Cox, Founder and Volunteer CEO
‘Embarrassed’ aims to dispel the myths around prostate cancer and has three main goals: to raise awareness, to get men and their families to talk about the subject more openly and to encourage more black men to ask their doctors for a simple PSA blood test. The fourth, more ambitious, goal of the campaign is to encourage the British Government and health authorities to change current protocols to allow automatic PSA testing of black men aged 45 and over, as this is a higher-risk demographic.
The 60-second film features an award-winning line-up of male actors, with Sir Steve McQueen helping to cast the talent. The cast spans generations to reach the widest possible audience.
Although prostate cancer is more common among men over 50, educating young men on the subject is essential to spreading awareness. The three British actors were shot in London, with Morgan Freeman shot in the USA. When the pandemic hit, Sir Steve McQueen and his Lammas Park team had to pivot to remote directing to finish the film.
The film will be made available to the public following the screening at the Tate Britain. Ahead of the screening, a Keynote speech will be given by leading Consultant Urological Surgeon Professor Francis Chinegwundoh MBE, a revered speaker and researcher who first published the research into the black community in the UK. Professor Greg Whyte OBE who is an MCAC Ambassador, former Olympian, world-renowned sports scientist and celebrity trainer, will be introducing the event.
“ I became a consultant in 1996 and it was then that I began to notice a lot of black men were being diagnosed with prostate cancer. There were no statistics on ethnicity and outpatients, so I dedicated time to research this and found that the risk of prostate cancer in black men was three-fold. Twenty-five years later and these statistics are still not as widely known or talked about enough. Therefore, it is so important to have campaigns like ‘Embarrassed’ by MCAC, with the talent involved in the project to help propel the message and to encourage black men over 45 to ask for the PSA blood test. My message to men is to take responsibility for their health and get an annual check-up. The earlier prostate cancer is treated, the better the outcome.”
Professor Francis Chinegwundoh
MBE, MBBS MS MML(Med Law) FRCS(Eng) FRCS(Ed) FRCS(Urol) FEBU
“ The charity sector has suffered over the pandemic and yet they provide an essential service in optimising the health and quality of life of the population. Given the significant impact of COVID-19 on cancer care raising awareness of male cancer is absolutely crucial.
‘Embarrassed’ is a truly outstanding and important film that will undoubtedly change and savelives. I am honoured to be part of such an important campaign for positive change in our society.”
Professor Greg Whyte
OBE PhD DSc FBASES FACSM
The film will be made available to the public to post across social platforms after the screening in London. Following this, MCAC plan to take the campaign on the road to community groups and councils to spread awareness even further as part of a volunteer lead project in the UK & Ireland. The charity recognises that with greater public awareness and widespread support it hopes to inspire future research to help discover why black men are disproportionally affected. Prostate cancer is curable if caught and treated in the very early stages. The message of the campaign is simple, don’t be embarrassed.
ABOUT SIR STEVE MCQUEEN
Sir Steve McQueen is an artist and filmmaker living and working in Amsterdam and London. His work is held in public collections around the world and solo exhibitions have been shown internationally, including a major retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Schaulager, Basel, and more recently Tate Modern, London. McQueen represented Britain at the Venice Biennale in 2009 and was awarded the Turner Prize in 1999. McQueen has directed four feature films: HUNGER (2008), SHAME (2011), 12 YEARS A SLAVE (2014), and WIDOWS (2018) along with SMALL AXE (2020) his collection of 5 films for BBC One. He won the Caméra d’Or award at the Cannes Film Festival for HUNGER and the Oscar for the Best Motion Picture for 12 YEARS A SLAVE in 2014. He was knighted in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to film.
ABOUT LAMMAS PARK
Helmed by acclaimed filmmaker and artist Sir Steve McQueen, Lammas Park’s philosophy is to produce ground-breaking socially and culturally transformative narratives. Recent credits include the collection of 5 films for BBC One SMALL AXE, created, directed and co-written by McQueen. An unprecedented two of the films were chosen for the Cannes Official Selection 2020, and in 2021, it
received a record-breaking 15 BAFTA TV nominations, winning 5. Lammas Park co-produced three documentaries for BBC and Amazon this year, BLACK POWER: A BRITISH STORY OF RESISTANCE, SUBNORMAL: A BRITISH SCANDAL and UPRISING, co-directed by McQueen. Lammas Park is currently in principle photography on documentary OCCUPIED CITY directed by McQueen and is in development on a selection of feature films, TV series, and documentaries including LAST DAYS, an ambitious sci-fi drama series for Amazon, and AUGUSTOWN, the debut feature from SMALL AXE cinematographer Shabier Kirchner. They also produce branded content and advertising projects direct to clients and advertising agencies alike in Europe and the US.
ABOUT MALE CANCER AWARENESS CAMPAIGN
Registered charity number 1110367
Founded in 2004, MCAC is a small, proud charity with just one member of staff, Charity Founder and Volunteer CEO Patrick Cox. The charity relies on an inspiring network of committed volunteers, who together produce hard-hitting, innovative, creative and cost-effective campaigns that aim to save lives.
For 17 years the charity has been pushing boundaries and driving awareness around cancers that are survivable if caught early. MCAC is committed to education and awareness, and its mission is to reduce embarrassment around male cancers through the production of award-winning educational films.
ABOUT BELSTAFF
Belstaff is a British brand and the icon of an independent spirit. Worn by interesting people, pioneers
and adventurers, each on their own journey and with their own story to tell, Belstaff clothing is built onquality, functional integrity and style.
Belstaff is supporting the ‘Embarrassed’ campaign and event, educating their engaged male customer and using their social channels to help promote the campaign. The brand has a long association with men’s health and mental health charities and is dedicated to raising awareness to help make a difference.
www.belstaff.com
ABOUT PROFESSOR FRANK CHINEGWUNDOH MBE MBBS MS MML(MED LAW) FRCS(ENG)
FRCS(ED) FRCS(UROL) FEBU
Professor Chinegwundoh is a Consultant Urological Surgeon at Barts Health NHS Trust, in London, UK (since 1996) and honorary visiting Professor to the School of Health Sciences, City, University of London.
He is an academic clinician. He has a particular interest in ethnicity & prostate cancer. He published the first paper in the UK demonstrating a 2-3 fold increased risk of prostate cancer in black men. In November 2016, he was the subject of a BBC news piece on prostate cancer research in the UK and Nigeria.
He has a longstanding interest in cancer in general through his 22 year’s chairmanship of the UK registered patient charity Cancer Black Care. He has been a government advisor on cancer since 2007. He has co-chaired the Prostate Cancer Advisory Group and is a member of the Bowel Screening Advisory Committee. In 2013, he was awarded an MBE for services to the UK National Health Service & urology.
Clinical interests include prostate cancer diagnostics, having introduced transperineal prostate biopsy to his institution and prostate brachytherapy for prostate cancer.
He is widely published and enjoys international prostate cancer research collaborations.
He is in much demand for his medical legal expertise.
He is a trustee of TACKLE (prostate cancer) and an advisor to Prostate Cancer UK.
He has appeared on television several times, including with Ricky Gervais, Karl Pilkington and Steve Merchant in ‘An Idiot Abroad’. On June 2, 2020 he appeared live on the Al Jazeera programme ‘The Stream’ talking about the effect of Covid-19 on Black, Asian and ethnic minority communities in the UK.
His website www.urologyconsultant.co.uk has Health on the Net accreditation.
ABOUT PROFESSOR GREG WHYTE OBE PhD DSc FBASES FACSM
Greg has been a Male Cancer Awareness charity ambassador for nearly 10 years and is a proud supporter of small charities. Greg is the pre-eminent authority on Exercise Physiology and Sports and Exercise Performance in the UK and is an internationally recognised expert in the field. As a result of his work, Greg has helped raise over £45million for charity, directly supporting Comic Relief and helping to train celebrities to complete their staggering physical challenges.
EMBARRASSED PRESS NOTES
Study by BioMed Central Public Health showed that
LIFETIME RISK
1 in 4 Black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer
1 in 8 White men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer
1 in 14 Asian men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer
LIFETIME RISK
1 in 12 Black men will die from the disease
1 in 24 White men will die from the disease
1 in 44 Asian men will die from the disease
Black men have a 50% higher chance of losing their lives to prostate cancer than white men. The 1 in 4 lifetime risk statistic was worked out using information about men recorded as ‘Black African’, ‘Black Caribbean’ and ‘Other Black’. It did not include ‘Black Mixed’ as there was not enough data about this group in the records.
RELATIVITY VS OTHER CANCERS
In the UK, there are no differences in the rate of death between the most deprived and the least deprived people, but black men are at an increased risk, which may affect the rates in certain urban areas with higher proportions of ethnic minority groups. Black men have a higher rate of death from prostate cancer, while Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi men have a lower rate.
In comparison to other cancers, prostate cancer rates are very high in black men. Testicular cancer, for example, is very rare in black men. The risk of white men developing testicular cancer is five times greater than the risk of black men developing the disease.
WHAT DON’T WE KNOW ABOUT THE DISEASE?
• We don’t know enough about the stage at which black men are being diagnosed with the cancer. There are 4 stages in the development of cancer, but the earlier the diagnosis, the better the chance that the disease can be treated effectively.
• We don’t know at what age these men are being treated for their cancer. If they are older, they traditionally have less chance of survival due to the treatment options.
WHAT WE DO KNOW
• Embarrassment is a key issue that stops men from seeking medical advice.
• More black men are being diagnosed and die from the disease than men from other major ethnic groups in England.
• Black men are in the higher risk category.
MCAC want young black men to know that the black community is at a much higher risk and to share this information with their families and communities. MCAC want older men to take action and speak with their GP. To put it simply, if you are a black man aged 45 or over, you need to get your prostate checked by asking for a simple PSA blood test. It is important to ask as current medical guidelines don’t allow for high-risk categories to opt for a test.
VITAL DATA AND Q&A
https://bmcmedicine.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12916-015-0405-5
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CTNRleBJf9c&t=464s
Embarrassed a sir Steve Mcqueen film
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