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This article appeared in the Sun on Wednesday. Thanks to the guys there for their continued support.

It is really important for us guys to take our heads out of the sand and start talking about our health. For years now, women are very comfortable talking about their health and the huge stigma that was breast cancer is thankfully now gone. For that reason, we have seen an increase in the number of women surviving the disease and this is just great. But us guys, unfortunately have a long way to go. We know that early detection is key to saving lives but whether out of embarrassment or fear, we seem to be very slow about having ourselves checked out or even discussing our fears with our GP. We, in the Foundation did a piece of research on this last year and it highlighted that men either took an ostrich approach to their health or took action when concerned only on the instruction of their family. It is this mindset that we need to change.

We are using the latest digital technology through a dedicated website in encouraging men to tell their stories in a safe and non-threatening way. We are using UTube, Twitter and Facebook to get our message across and our hope is that many men will engage with us, either by telling us their story or asking questions.

We are delighted that Gerry Ryan has agreed to support the campaign through radio advertisement which will air throughout the month of March. Hopefully using men like Gerry, whose father died from prostate cancer will act as an example to all men in becoming more aware of their health. At the end of the day, its all about awareness in beating cancer.

So come on guys, log onto getmentalking.ie

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