Farnborough & Aldershot Lions in conjunction with Cancer Testing South held their second annual prostate cancer screening event at the Southwood Medical Centre in October.

One in 8 men in the UK will get this deadly disease which translates to 41.000 cases per year, equivalent to 200 new cases being diagnosed every working day. This in turn means that 10,000 men a year are dying of this totally preventable disease. That is one man every hour. The worst mortality figures in Europe.

Farnborough & Aldershot Lions have joined with other Lions Clubs nationwide to save as many men and their families as possible from this devastating outcome. 

Bookings for 200 men were taking prior to the event and despite 15 'no shows', a further 16 'walk ins' made up the number to 201. This combined with the 244 men tested last year means that between 25 and 30 local men in the last 12 months will receive an early diagnosis after the Farnborough screenings enabling prompt life saving treatment.

These figures are especially poignant for 2 Farnborough Lions who attended a similar event in 2016 held by Fleet Lions Club. After their blood tests one received a 'red letter' signifying abnormally high PSA levels requiring immediate treatment, despite him having no symptoms. The 2nd Lion received an 'Amber Letter' indicating his PSA level was high and advising follow up medical attention. Both these men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and went on to receive successful treatment. Both are now cancer free.

We would like to sincerely thank the Southwood Medical Centre for allowing us to use the centre for this screening session along with South East Water, Rushmoor Council and Hampshire County Council who gave grants towards the costs of £25 per test. We would also like to thank the men of Rushmoor for their generous contributions towards the cost of holding this life saving event.

If you missed this opportunity PSA tests are available to all men over 50 for free from their GP, even if they do not have symptoms. For further information visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/psa-test/

We look forward to letting you all know the number of lives saved by these simple blood tests in Farnborough. Re-visit this page soon to find out more.