Every November, the Movember Foundation offers to grow a mustache and raise funds. All year round, it funds research into male cancers.
Mustache month has started around the world. Movember offers men the opportunity to grow their mustache all month to educate loved ones about men’s health. The activities multiply to evoke cancer of the prostate, testes and psychological diseases. And if the tone is light, the action is real: The Movember Foundation has raised more than $ 579 million (465 million euros) which it invests in cancer research through its Global Action Plan (GAP).
A committee of experts
Since its inception, the Movember Foundation has funded 800 programs. How does this funding work? As Movember explains, “a small portion of the funds raised in each country are allocated to a global fund. The Global Scientific Committee (GSC), made up of experts in prostate cancer, defines a priority project. Researchers who join the program then receive funding “to work together on a defined problem”, specifies the site. Platforms, conference calls and face-to-face meetings allow specialists to discuss the progress of their work.
Prostate cancer is at the heart of Movember’s goals, which wants to develop both detection tests and imaging to monitor the evolution of tumors. The foundation has also invested in clinical trial registries, notably in Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Health authorities moderate
In France, the CHRU of Lille (North) received 161,000 euros from the Movember Foundation to finance its work on prostate cancer. But as Europe 1 underlines, the National Cancer Institute (INCa) did not wish to join the movement. “We are much more careful about screening for prostate cancer because we know that they put men at risk of overdiagnosis”, specifies its president Agnès Buzyn to our colleagues.
The controversy is confirmed by an article published in the very serious British Medical Journal. Margaret McCartney, doctor in Glasgow, specifies that the movement is “in disagreement” with the recommendations of the health authorities. The insistence on screening tests is again in Dr McCartney’s crosshairs. All the same, the initiative has the merit of raising awareness of male diseases and offering a male counterpart to October Rose, month dedicated to breast cancer.
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How Movember started The association was created in 2003 by two Australian friends. They invent the concept of Movember: shaving on November 1 and growing your mustache for the entire month. In 2004, their foundation invites donations, which will go to the Australian Institute for Prostate Cancer Research.
Since then, Movember has won over over 4 million “Mo Bros” and “Mo Sistas” in 21 countries. France joined the movement in 2012. In 2013, the store GQ presented an award to the Foundation, praising its efforts to raise awareness of male cancers. |
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