Going balls out for cancer awareness

Men are getting their privates out in public for cancer awareness, but it’s not what it sounds like.

A new and unusual way to promote Testicular Cancer Month has been launched – walking in the shape of a penis and uploading a picture of the route to social media. Testicular Cancer New Zealand is running the #Goballsout campaign, and the idea has caught on in Palmerston North.

Milson Rotary president Evan Kroll suggested it to their members. ‘‘If you can help one person that is all that matters.’’

He said some of their members did quite a lot of walking anyway and this was a fun way to get the word out. ‘‘It has got to be good.’’

Testicular cancer is the most common cancer affecting men between the ages of 15 and 39. In 2013, there were 137 cases of testicular cancer resulting in six deaths that year.

The cancer is very treatable – the survival rate for men diagnosed with stage 1 seminoma is about 99 per cent. The cure rates for stage 3 tumours vary between 50 to 80 per cent.

Kroll said the issue could be a tough one to broach. ‘‘It is not what you can call ‘pub talk’.’’

But he hoped that men would take care of themselves and get checked even if they did not talk about it.

Though it was a leading cancer among younger men, Kroll said their older counterparts were no strangers to health problems. ‘‘It is not uncommon to hear people get cancer or heart problems.’’

He said the reaction to the quirky awareness campaign had been positive from Rotary members. Most testicular cancers are found by men themselves, by accident or while doing a testicular selfexamination.

Those keen to take part in the campaign can use a GPS app on their phone to track their walk, then upload a picture of it to social media using the hashtag #Goballsout.