ADVANCE NOTICE

Announcing Blue September 2011
“Facing Up to Cancer in Men”

Blue September, the campaign which encourages men to face up to cancer, will launch in England and Wales at the start of next month (September).

Proudly supporting the charity Men’s Health Forum, Blue September is the first national campaign to increase men’s awareness of all cancers. It is needed because men are about 40% more likely than women to die of cancer.

Blue September is specifically aimed at raising awareness of all the cancers that can affect men - including lung, prostate, bowel, and melanoma - and the lifestyle choices men can make to reduce their risk. It also encourages men to seek medical advice as soon as possible if they have a worrying symptom.

The campaign slogan of “Facing Up to Cancer in Men” will be brought to life by men, women and children painting their faces blue. Faces are a central theme of the campaign.

Big names from sport and health are supporting Blue September, including:

• Liverpool Football Club
• Tottenham Hotspur Football Club
• Fulham Football Club
• Portsmouth Football Club
• The Barclays Premier League
• NHS Direct
• Health minister Paul Burstow MP
• Professor Sir Mike Richards, the cancer “tsar”
• Alan Fletcher, “Dr Karl Kennedy” from Neighbours
• Chris Heaton-Harris MP
• The Royal College of GPs
• The Royal College of Nursing

Blue September launches with Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, on 1st September.

Throughout September, there will be Blue September events taking place at football and rugby grounds, workplaces, hospitals and other venues across England and Wales.

More information about Blue September and the people and organisations backing it can be found at www.blueseptember.org.uk.

ENDS.

Notes

The Men’s Health Forum (MHF) is a charity that provides an independent and authoritative voice for male health in England and Wales and tackles the issues and inequalities affecting the health and well-being of men and boys.
The MHF’s vision is a future in which all boys and men in England and Wales have an equal opportunity to attain the highest possible level of health and well-being.

The MHF exists because men are unnecessarily and disproportionately affected by a wide range of health problems and too often die too young. 42% of men die before the age of 75 compared to 26% of women. www.menshealthforum.org.uk.

The MHF runs the award-winning health information website www.malehealth.co.uk.

Blue September was developed in New Zealand in 2008 by Australian public relations company MWC Media and has since become a massive campaign that gets the message about men's cancer out to Kiwi blokes.
It is now also celebrated in Australia and California and in 2011 it is launching in the Republic of Ireland and here in England and Wales with the Men's Health Forum.

Blue September 2011 England & Wales supporters:

• Liverpool Football Club
• Tottenham Hotspur Football Club
• Fulham Football Club
• Portsmouth Football Club
• The Barclays Premier League
• NHS Direct
• Health minister Paul Burstow MP
• The Royal College of GPs
• The Royal College of Nursing
• The Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• The British Association of Urological Surgeons
• Constructing Better Health
• The Healthy Stadia Network
• Bayer
• Roche Products
• Varian Medical Systems
• Intuitive Surgical
• Bristol-Myers Squibb