The Bureau of Gender Affairs and Ministry of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs used this year’s International Men’s Day Health and Wellness Fair to spotlight an issue that remains critical but often unspoken in Barbados: the urgent need for men to talk openly about prostate cancer.
Hosted on Wednesday in the northern car park of the Warrens Office Complex, the fair drew one of its largest crowds to date, with men from across the island turning out for free health checks. However, health officials stressed that while participation is rising, prostate cancer still remains a deeply sensitive topic for many men — one that requires far more national conversation.
At the Barbados Cancer Society tent where prostate screening was provided, Registered Nurse Sarah Stennett, a representative of the Barbados Cancer Society, said the reluctance to speak openly continues to hinder early detection. “Prostate cancer is the number one cancer in Barbados, and it is more aggressive in Black men,” she said. “Screening starts at age 40, and it’s just a simple blood test once a year. But it still remains very tight-lipped. Once a man has a father, uncle, grandfather who has prostate cancer they’re more open to talk about it.”
Despite this silence, Stennett noted progress, that over 90 men had already taken the PSA blood test, with the team aiming for 100 before the day’s end. “The conversations are being had, slowly but surely,” she said. “But we still need national dialogue — discussions to happen throughout the communities.”
Director of the Bureau of Gender Affairs, William Warner, said the event has seen steady growth in recent years, but 2025 represents a significant leap forward. “Over the last two years, especially last year and today, we find out there has been an increase, definitely increasing, men coming to the services,” Warner said. “Last year we completed about 60 prostate screening tests. This year, so far I think we are at about 90.”
Warner noted that Barbados has long struggled with low male participation in formal healthcare, prompting the Bureau to rethink its approach. “Men do not access healthcare,” he explained. “So we felt that it’d be good to get the men, bring the healthcare to the men rather than letting them have to access it — but we see this as a way of getting men to come and access the services.”
Event coordinator Natalie Nichols, Research Officer at the Bureau of Gender Affairs, said this year’s surge in attendance reflects what men have been saying for years: they prefer community-based, outdoor outreach over clinical environments. “We offered this year 100 free prostate screening tests. With that, we have seen that the numbers have actually come out much more than last year too,” she noted.
Nichols added that the fair continues to grow each year, with more partners joining and more men becoming comfortable discussing health issues that were once considered taboo. “It’s getting bigger every year — which is good,” she said.
One attendee echoed that sentiment, urging fellow men to step forward without hesitation. “Get over the shyness,” he said after completing several screenings. “A lot of us are here doing the same thing. Talk about it. Get tested.”
As more men came forward for screenings, organizers emphasized that early detection remains the most powerful tool in the fight against prostate cancer — but it begins with conversation.
The fair featured a wide network of health and wellness providers, including the National HIV/AIDS Commission, the Barbados Cancer Society, the Caribbean Colon Cancer Initiative, the Diabetes and Hypertension Association, and the Ministry of Health’s HIV/STI Unit. Additional partners such as the National Nutrition Centre, ICBL, the Barbados Association of Professional Social Workers, and Nikita School of Cosmetology offered everything from nutrition guidance to massages, manicures, and grooming services — all designed to make the event welcoming and accessible to men of all ages.
For Warner, the message remains simple: persistence is paying off. “It’s not going to happen overnight, but we think if we keep pushing the messages, pushing the message, and all that as men we need to go and get tested, to go and get checked, make sure they know their status,” he said. “I think over time it will somehow start to respond to the message and they will come and get tested.”
(LE)
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