Sixteen years ago, a Cancer Support Services testing drive might have attracted 20 men. Yesterday, a single Prostate Cancer Awareness Month session in Belleville, St Michael, drew upwards of 160 men – a signal organisers say that Barbadian men are finally paying attention to their health.
Speaking to the Sunday Sun, Dr Dawn Gayapersad, a volunteer researcher with Cancer Support Services since 2019, unveiled an eightyear PSA testing report commissioned by the organisation.
“[The report was commissioned] to understand how Cancer Support Services has been doing with raising awareness to men about taking care of their health and specifically prostate cancer testing,” she said.
The topline number: 4 941 men tested since testing began in 2010 through 2025.
“When we first started testing back in 2010, we had a trickling. We might have started with 20 and today . . . we see a trend where more men are coming,” she noted.
“Men in all 11 parishes in Barbados showed up for testing. What our report shows is men are listening to how we’re educating . . . how we’re raising awareness,” she said.
The data also pointed to who is most at risk.
“We also noticed that . . . men between 65 and 69 years old in Barbados had the most elevated results, which is very common in the world as reported by the UK Cancer Research Fund and also reported by the Barbados National Registry,” she said.
She was careful to clarify what an elevated result actually means.
“It’s very important to note that if you have elevated results, it does not mean that you have cancer. It could mean that you have an infection, which is very easy to take care of if you go to see your doctor. It also could mean you have cancer, but only your doctor can speak to that and do more testing to find out,” she stated.
She also flagged the island’s demographics as a factor.
“We also know that in Barbados we have a high population of African men, which worldwide studies have shown that African men are more likely to have prostate cancer,” she noted.
“If you have a father, a brother, a son, it is very important for you to get tested early,” she added, urging men with close relatives who have had the disease to act early. (DDS)
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