MERIT AWARD

JAMAICA CANCER SOCIETY

Combatting the reach of the deadly disease

THIRTY-ONE YEARS and billions of research dollars ago, the US President and US Congress officially declared war on cancer by passing the National Cancer Act bringing the spotlight of the international media on the killer disease.

However, in Jamaica, efforts to combat the reach of the disease were already underway under the auspices of the Jamaica Cancer Society, which since its inception in 1955, has been in the forefront of the battle against cancer in this country.

Today, the organisation is being honoured for the outstanding work it has educating the wider public about the disease whose black fingers have touched and ended the lives of millions.

In 1955, a group of professionals led by Dr. Kenneth McNeill, formed an association with a mission to fight and defeat cancer in all its forms.

The organisation's primary aim continues to be arming every person in the country sufficient knowledge about cancer so that better safeguards can be taken against the killer disease.

We salute the Jamaica Cancer Society on its many achievements over the past four decades. One such achievement is the establishment of the Hope Institute at Papine in St. Andrew, a 32-bed hospital where cancer patients are treated. This institute works in close conjunction with the Kingston Public Hospital. Another is the provision of a special wing to the University Hospital to accommodate recurrent and late cancer cases.

The society also opened cancer detection clinics in Kingston and at the Mandeville Hospital in 1972, the purpose of which was to detect early cancer of the breast and cervix in women. Since then other clinics have been established in St. James, St. Elizabeth, Clarendon and Westmoreland.

We applaud you for the great humanitarian service that the society continues to perform. But apart from the medical services which the society provides to cancer patients through doctors who volunteer their services, the society is engaged in a national programme of education. This programme informs women how to examine themselves for breast cancer, and the warning signs they should observe. Regular trips are also taken to towns and villages throughout the island where examinations are done, discussions held, and films on the disease shown.

We also commend you for operating a Male Clinic which offers screening services for prostate cancer. The services include a blood test for Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA), and a digital rectal examination. This screening is done for men over 60, and over 40 if there is a family history of prostate cancer.

The fight against cancer is an ongoing, never-ending struggle and there is a new generation which needs to be educated as to the dangers of cancer. We recognise that education and early detection remain the best weapons against cancer, and the sterling work that the society has done in saving thousands of lives in Jamaica.

For these reasons, we present you with pleasure, the 2001 Gleaner Honour Award of Excellence.