๐๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆโ๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ถ๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ โ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ.โ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ช๐ด๐ฌ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ด๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ข๐ค๐ฉ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ต ๐จ๐ช๐ท๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข๐จ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ข๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ.
๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ช๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐บ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ข๐ณ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ข ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต: ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ด๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค๐ญ๐บ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ๐ต๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ช๐ง ๐ข ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ๐ด. ๐๐ถ๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ธ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ข๐จ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ด๐ช๐ด ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ญ๐ต. ๐๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ด๐ช๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ญ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฐ๐ถ๐ด๐ญ๐บ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ข ๐ฅ๐ช๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ต ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ญ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ.
GREATย BAY--A man decides to have his PSA checked. He gets the blood test, receives the result, speaks with his doctor and continues with whatever follow-up is necessary. For many men, that entire process remains known only to themselves, their doctor and perhaps their partner. There is nothing wrong with that. Medical information is personal, and no man should feel obligated to disclose his PSA number, diagnosis or treatment to anyone.
But there is another question worth asking during Prostate Cancer Awareness Month: why should supporting prostate cancer awareness also have to remain private?
Men publicly support heart health, diabetes awareness, breast cancer campaigns and numerous other health causes. Yet prostate cancer can still produce discomfort. Some men will wear a ribbon for almost any cause but hesitate when the ribbon represents a disease involving the prostate. Others may encourage a friend to see a doctor privately but would never appear in a photograph or video encouraging men generally to get checked.
That hesitation deserves attention because prostate cancer is not simply a medical issue. For some men, it touches ideas about masculinity, sexual function, aging and vulnerability that they would rather not discuss.
Research has documented this problem. A review examining prostate cancer stigma among Black men found that concerns surrounding masculinity, examinations, treatment side effects and social interaction can influence how men think and communicate about the disease. The review examined studies from several countries, including Trinidad and Tobago, although its findings should not automatically be treated as representing every Caribbean community or St. Maarten specifically.
Other research involving Black African and Black Caribbean men has similarly found that misunderstandings about prostate cancer testing and treatment, along with concerns about masculinity, can influence willingness to seek testing or discuss the disease. Researchers have also found instances where men diagnosed with prostate cancer chose not to disclose their diagnosis even to some relatives because of stigma and masculinity concerns.
None of this means that men should be pushed into revealing private medical information.
There is an important difference between privacy and silence.
A man can support prostate cancer awareness without telling anyone whether he has ever had an abnormal PSA. He does not have to announce that he underwent a biopsy. He does not have to discuss erectile dysfunction, urinary problems or any other intimate aspect of his health. He does not even have to say whether prostate cancer has personally affected him.
He can simply encourage other men to take their health seriously.
That contribution could be as simple as wearing a blue ribbon, sharing credible information, participating in an awareness photograph, encouraging friends to speak with their doctors or publicly reminding men that having a PSA discussion is nothing to be embarrassed about.
Imagine the difference if more businessmen, athletes, musicians, teachers, politicians, pastors, community leaders, fathers and grandfathers were willing to lend their voices to that message. Not because they have prostate cancer, but because men's health is important.
Visibility helps make conversations normal.
When men see other men discussing screening without embarrassment, the subject becomes less unusual. When a respected community figure says that men should know their risk and speak with their doctor, it may reach someone who has ignored the same message on a medical poster.
Men who have actually experienced prostate cancer can also have a particularly important voice, if they choose to use it. Personal experience can sometimes communicate what statistics cannot. Hearing another man describe why he got tested, what he feared, what he learned and why he believes other men should pay attention can make the issue feel real.
But that must always remain his choice.
Studies of men with prostate cancer have found several reasons some choose limited disclosure, including concerns about stigma, wanting to maintain normality, not wanting sympathy and not wanting to burden other people. Research has also found that some men are reluctant to seek emotional or psychosocial support because they want privacy or anticipate awkward conversations.
Those concerns should be respected, not mocked.
At the same time, prostate cancer awareness cannot depend entirely on men who have been diagnosed. That places an unfair burden on patients and survivors. The wider male population can carry the message too.
A man does not need cancer before prostate cancer becomes his concern.
Friends can talk to friends. Brothers can remind brothers. Sons can ask fathers about family history. Fathers can tell adult sons what illnesses have occurred in the family. Men can discuss PSA testing without turning the conversation into a joke about examinations or sexual function.
Families also have an important role. Many men finally seek medical attention because a wife, girlfriend, daughter, son or close friend keeps encouraging them to make the appointment. Prostate cancer awareness may focus on men, but the people who care about those men are part of the conversation too.
For St. Maarten, that conversation matters. Local health initiatives have already demonstrated that men will participate when opportunities are available. St. Maarten Medical Center reported that more than 150 men received prostate cancer and other preventive screenings during its 2025 Men's Health Day. That shows men will show up. The next challenge is making the conversation surrounding those decisions just as normal.
Your PSA result can remain private.
A diagnosis can remain private.
Treatment can remain private.
But supporting the idea that men should pay attention to their prostate health should not be something anyone feels embarrassed to do.
We spend a great deal of time telling men to get checked. Perhaps part of prostate cancer awareness must also involve creating a culture in which men are comfortable telling other men that getting checked is normal.
You do not have to tell the world your medical history to add your voice.
Sometimes saying โMen, take your health seriouslyโ is enough.
โ
