A consultant urologist, Dr. Odezi Otobo, says there is no medical or urological evidence that constant lovemaking and ejaculation reduce a man’s risk of contracting prostate cancer.
Otobo, who works with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), said this at a medical outreach for men organised by Asi Ukpo Comprehensive Cancer Centre on Monday in Calabar.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the outreach, which was held at the premises of the Christian Central Chapel International (CCCI), Calabar, is part of programmes to commemorate “Movember.”
Movember, which involves growing of moustaches, is an annual event held in November to raise awareness of men’s health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer, and men’s mental health.
The urologist, who was reacting to claims on social media that constant intimacy and having multiple girlfriends could prevent prostate cancer, said the disease was either hereditary, caused by lifestyle, or environmental.
“Instead of taking unprofessional and unscientific advice from different quarters, it is important to visit a hospital if you notice anything, and for those in their forties and fifties, get screened because early detection is key to effective treatment of cancer.
“Prostate cancer is indolent cancer and can be handled when a man is aware, visits a medical facility, and changes his lifestyle, not by having multiple ‘side chicks,’ he said.
On his part, Mr Yegwa Ukpo, the Executive Director, Asi Ukpo Comprehensive Cancer Centre, said they had to commemorate Movember because men’s health issues were hardly addressed in society.
Represented by Mrs Mercy Njoku, Event and Outreach Manager of the centre, Ukpo said there was something about masculinity in society that made men think they had to keep their issues to themselves.
“I want to appeal to the men to take their health seriously because cases of men slumping and dying in their forties and fifties are on the increase; we don’t want this to continue.
“Also, a lot of men engage in excessive intake of alcohol; others work all the time just to make ends meet without checking their livers, kidneys, hearts, and even mental state; this is why we are insisting on this outreach, which will be annual,” he said.
Similarly, Dr Saviour Eze, Head of Medical Team in CCCI, said that they decided to partner with ASI Ukpo because the outreach specifically called out men to be attended to, which was quite unusual in the society.
Eze said as a church, they recognised the fact that physical illnesses should be handled by those God had placed in the medical profession to take care, even though they pray for God’s healing.
NAN also reports that the outreach, which saw men screened for the function of their hearts, kidneys, livers, and prostate-specific antigen (PSA), was in partnership with the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Rotary Club, and Pink Africa, among others
