Mandatory prostate cancer screening unlikely, says medical officer
Published:Monday | September 22, 2025 | 12:05 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Dr Romario Hart, the medical officer of health at the St Catherine Health Department, says that while men should be proactive in getting regular prostate cancer screenings, he does not believe the issue will get to the point where the government will institute policies to make such screenings mandatory.
Hart spoke to the issue during last Thursday’s Zoom forum on prostate cancer, which was put on by the East Jamaica Conference of Seventh-day Adventists’ (SDA) Men’s Ministries Department. It was staged under the theme, ‘Men’s health – Raising awareness around prostate cancer and you’.
“I know that all the conferences and the union of the Seventh-day Adventist Church have been pushing for sensitisation, especially when it comes on to Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, which is in September, and the Government of Jamaica is trying to push for sensitisation and getting more persons aware. As it relates to making it mandatory or a policy matter, that has to do with human rights, so I do not think it will ever become mandatory,” said Hart.
“You have to inform persons and allow them to make that choice to do the right thing, which is best for their health, but the government and the SDA church have been trying the best they can. With the National Health Fund, they actually offer one prostate-specific antigen [PSA] test a year, free of cost, and, once you go to your nearest health centre, you can get the digital rectal exam done for free … it is just for men to be informed and to take that decision for their health,” said Hart.
The idea of mandatory prostate cancer screening was raised in 2022 when Michael Leslie, the acting executive director of the Jamaica Cancer Society (JCS), proposed that public health institutions and general practitioners should mandate screening for men 40 years and older.
Prior to Leslie’s proposal, in 2019, Yulit Gordon, the JCS’ executive director at the time, called for the government to craft a national policy for men over age 40 to get easier access to screening.
Testing stigma
Hart told Thursday’s meeting that men with spouses or girlfriends are more likely to seek prostate cancer testing than single men. He noted that many men avoid screening because of stigmas related to the process, particularly the digital rectal examination, where the doctor puts a finger in the patient’s anus.
“Some of those stigmas discourage a lot of people, and, even this week, I had a 64-year-old patient who did his first digital rectal exam, and he reached in my office because his daughter and sister dragged him for the check-up. Even in the office, it took five to 10 minutes for him to come to grips with what I was about to do,” said Hart. “That stigma is there, and a lot of people avoid it, especially when they are single, not in a committed relationship, not having anybody to encourage and inform them.”
Meanwhile, Dr Nadine Dietrich Badal, head of radiotherapy at the Kingston Public Hospital, proposed that prostate cancer research should include more input from black men, who are more likely to contract the disease.
“In 1999, prostate cancer accounted for 30 per cent of all male cancer deaths, with 445 reported deaths in Jamaica. However, as we fast-track to 2022, approximately 829 deaths were attributed to prostate cancer,” said Dietrich Badal. “Men of black descent are going to have a higher propensity to suffer from prostate cancer, but, when we look at studies that have been conducted, there is not much black representation within these studies. We have to start including more of our men in these studies and getting a broader picture.”