Ignorance is bliss, until it hits you.

Scrolling down The Voice Newspaper's tweets, I came across a tweet which caught my attention. Opening

with the hash tag 'HealthMatters', my brain registered that the few characters may be worth looking at. What followed was the fact that 'Black men are 3 times more likely to develop prostate cancer than White men'.

 I was watching the television a few days ago (yep, that's right guys, a tv - I'd almost forgotten how to use it) and an advert about prostate cancer came on. The male actor and his wife were both white, seemingly middle class and it crossed my mind that the advert was targeting White men. The first thought that passed was: aren't Black men more likely to develop prostate cancer? Second thought: so why is the actor a white man? Okay, I get that there's only room for one male actor in this particular commercial, but shouldn't you tackle the majority first? It's a Utilitarian principle which can be pretty useful at times.

For those of you that don't know what I mean when I mention Utilitarianism, it's a normative ethical theory which proposes that any action must maximise utility and happiness and reduce suffering. That's the theory in a nutshell but obviously, as with many theories, there are several different and interesting branches that stem from the basic principle, look it up.

Denton Wilson Click to find out more.

But back to 'business', prostate cancer and men's health. The fact is, there's often a lot of publicity and raising awareness concerning women's health, but not men's, and it's no secret that African and Caribbean men are not really big on talking about their health. I don't know, maybe it's something to do with Pride. But honestly let's get real now. Pride verses Sickness, Suffering, Pain and Death leading to suffering of the family and friends...it's absolutely nothing to just go get yourself checked out. Sometimes there aren't any symptoms. Take Denton Wilson as an example, so he's was 42 and most of you are the reverse of those digits, but you won't be for long. So, Denton might also be an actor, this I am unsure of of, but regardless, the point he's making is important.

Guys, you may be young, girls, your brothers may be young, but what about your fathers? Let's be Health Aware, and not consumed with pride What good is being ignorant and proud? Ignorance may be bliss but when the crap hits the fan and it rebounds and sprays up in your face, pride becomes redundant and you just look like a fool. You can be proud, but be proud and wise.

Keep it in the back of your mind...

Find out more about prostate cancer.

Yours,

EACS x