General Richard Dannatt Leads Charity Into Battle With Scourge of Prostate Cancer

Published on: 1 Dec, 2019
Updated on: 2 Dec, 2019

General The Lord Richard Dannatt GCB CBE MC DL

Under the banner “Waging War on Prostate Cancer” a new campaign will be spearheaded by the former Chief of the General Staff, General the Lord Richard Dannatt.

The campaign to target men between 50 and 70 was launched by the Prostate Project at the Stokes Centre for Urology, Royal Surrey County Hospital in Guildford.

The plan, brainchild of the PP president Tim Sharp, will launch three offensives:

Awareness & Diagnosis Offensive

Fighting apathy, ignorance and embarrassment with PSA testing days and GP tutorial seminars.

Early Stage Cancer Offensive

Fundraising for the Stokes Centre for Urology to ensure it continues to attract high-calibre clinicians, nurse specialists and technicians using the most advanced equipment.

Advanced Stage Cancer Offensive

Fundraising for the University of Surrey cancer research team as they develop new blood-marker diagnostics and immunotherapy/viral therapy drug regimes.

Prostate cancer is now the UK’s biggest male cancer killer. Every year, 47,000 men are told they have the disease and almost 12,000 die of it, one man every 45 minutes.

Most of these deaths are unnecessary because early-stage prostate cancer is easily curable. Between 80% and 90% of men diagnosed early are cured.

Lord Dannatt said: “In any theatre of war, it is vital to understand your enemy, their strengths, their weaknesses and their behaviour. The same disciplines are needed to fight cancer effectively.

“I urge everyone to support the Prostate Project’s battle with this insidious disease.”

With Lord Dannatt’s help, Mr Sharp hopes to extend the reach of his new campaign by engaging with the British Army, initially at Aldershot, home to two brigades, four battalions and two regiments, all under the care of Royal Surrey and Frimley Park hospitals.

He said: “There is no larger cohort of men bound together in a common cause by camaraderie and discipline than soldiers of the British Army.

“We have the opportunity to engage with them, serving and retired, to encourage a greater awareness of prostate cancer and the need for those aged between 50 and 70 to be tested for prostate cancer.

Under the banner of “Health for Heroes” the charity hopes to create an awareness that will resonate with the wider male population.

The Prostate Project is a Guildford-based, volunteer-led charity with administration costs of below 5%.

In its 21-year history, the charity has raised more than £10 million, giving men a better chance of beating prostate cancer, most recently, jointly funding the £6m Stokes Centre for Urology with Royal Surrey NHS Foundation Trust in Guildford.

This article is based on a press release by the Royal Surrey County Hospital.