They note that testicular cancer is the most common form of cancer in men between the ages of 15 and 35 years.
MUG was formed in 2012 by a group of men wanting to raise awareness for Guernsey males on prostate, bowel, and testicular cancer concerns.
They said that “MUG has raised over £1,000,000 since launch and has previously funded such projects as a specific cancer nurse for the Princess Elizabeth Hospital, as well as the Multidisciplinary Treatment Room”.
Their ‘Check Your Balls’ campaign led to a 20% increase in men having testicular ultrasounds.
Whilst many of these check-ups would have eliminated the possibility of cancer, they believe this demonstrates the successes of their campaigning.
“It also has a legacy effect of making it far easier and more likely for these men to seek advice from their GPs about other medical conditions in the future,” said MUG.
Pictured: Information on men’s health is detailed throughout MUG’s website.
Any men feeling embarrassed or worried about wasting doctor’s time on these issues needn’t feel so, according to MUG, who said that advice on symptoms and best-practice for self-checking are available on their and the NHS’s websites.
The charity added that they have committed to purchasing an ultrasound probe which allows for the diagnosis of prostate cancer with greater accuracy and less risk of infection. This is something not currently available in Guernsey.
The group says, in addition to the hill climb, they offer other annual events including ‘Bermuda Shorts’ week in July and ‘Beard Up’ in November. It also plans to follow up a previous ‘Cream Up’ campaign which “placed sun cream dispensers in primary schools across the Bailiwick”.
MUG says it “remains committed to helping men and their partners to talk openly with each other and with medical professionals about possible symptoms and treatments of male cancers”.