Determined Prostate Cancer Fighter Leads The Way As Men Start To Get The Message

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22nd December 2009, 04:49pm - Views: 802





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MEDIA RELEASE 


Determined prostate cancer fighter leads the way as men start to get the

message


Sydney, 22nd December 2009: The power of commitment to a cause is never more evident than in the

life of Tony Sonneveld. His battle with prostate cancer goes on, but rather than hampering his efforts to

raise awareness about the disease, it just seems to fuel more initiatives and more commitment.


Tony is the Chairman of the NSW Board of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) and

recently finished in the national Top 20 fund raisers for Movember, raising nearly $9,000 to help support

research into prostate cancer and depression.  


He is also a National Men’s Health Ambassador, having now made more than a dozen presentations to

groups of men about the best way to raise awareness about continence health and prostate health.


Tony has a very clear and personal motivation for participating in Movember and helping to raise

awareness about the importance of testing and prevention.


"Helping make a success of Movember will mean more funding to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of

Australia for research into finding a cure or control mechanism for prostate cancer. My father and father-

in-law died of prostate cancer and I have advanced prostate cancer with a prognosis of only three to five

years. Unfortunately my adult sons and grandson will have a pre-disposition to this insidious disease."


According to PCFA CEO Andrew Giles, Tony’s decision to live a life of advocacy and awareness raising

epitomises the contribution made by many volunteers and fund raisers right across Australia.


“The increased awareness we are seeing about men’s health in general and prostate cancer in particular

is testimony to the work of people like Tony Sonneveld. Remember, there is no major government

funded national mass media campaign about prostate health, like there is about smoking and drink-

driving. The increased awareness and public discussion has really been driven by the prostate cancer

support groups, the Ambassador program and

by thousands of volunteers like Tony Sonneveld who

work tirelessly to help amplify the work of the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia,” said Giles.


PCFA recognises the outstanding success of the Movember Foundation who are actively “changing the

face of men’s health”.  Mr Giles commended all Australians who helped support the campaign.


“The blokes who grew mo’s and all the people who supported them should be congratulated on their

contribution to a fantastic effort. The funds from Movember play a crucial role in supporting researchers

all around Australia who are developing new diagnostic tests, scrutinising new biomarkers or testing new

treatment protocols,” said Giles.


Latest figures show that each year nearly 19,000 Australian men are diagnosed with prostate cancer and

tragically almost 3,000 men die every year from the disease.


In the early stages

there are few symptoms of prostate cancer.

However,

if detected early, prostate

cancer is often treatable and curable.


In 2009, 128,561 Australian Men participated in Movember. They raised nearly $20 million for research

into prostate cancer and depression in men.




Ends


For more information, or to interview Tony Sonneveld, or to build a broader feature story regarding this

release, please contact Margo Field

(0418 419 258)

or Karina Candia (0402 307 056)

at Palin

Communications on 02 9412 2255






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