02 Dec 2024

Gaborone West men were cautioned about neglecting their health and perpetrating elicit criminal activities.

 Gaborone West Customary court President, Kgosi Arnold Somolekae said this during a Men Consultative Dialogue Workshop on Friday. Public Health Education Technician, Mr Mpakisang Molapisi said prostate cancer claimed lives of men in large numbers sighting that 1 277 lives were lost in 2022 as the disease currently was at the prevalence of 6 644.

 Mr Molapisi said cancer was normally a silent disease and could only have be shown through signs when a male person was troubled by urination or the use of increased force to pass urine.

 He said another sign could be traces of blood in the urine and or semen while painful joints could be another sign as bone marrow cells may be affected.

 He also said erectile dysfunction was also a sign to be looked out for.

 Mr Molapisi said cancer spread through the lymphatic system which could reach the marrow that produced disease fighting cells.

Although the causes of this disease were unclear, Mr Molapisi said, risk factors included old age because research indicated that the disease mostly affected men over 50 years of age.

 He also said one to two per cent of men of aged between 40 to 45, were also found with the disease yet, black men were the most affected.

 He further said family history could also be a risk factor while obesity could also be risky adding that consumption of Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs) could be risky and cause prostate cancer as food affected bodies.

 He said the complication of the disease included metastasis whereby the cancer spread to other body parts, incontinence which was loss of bladder control due to treatment and erectile dysfunction.

 He said prevention and treatment was by regular screening known as Digital Rectile Examination (DRE) and Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) which he said most men dreaded.

 Men and Boys Director, Mr Desmond Lunga said men as father were failing to teach boys how to respect girls and women.

 Mr Lunga said men were to change their thinking as they did not depict self-love to their children.

 “Let us try to talk to our children,” he said.

 He said with self-love, cases of abuse and Gender Based Violence would be reduced.

 For his part on Mental Health, Mr Onalethata Mothibi said drugs and illicit substances introduced in Botswana left social ills and increased HIV infections.

 Mr Mothibi said drugs and illicit substances were found in school going children as they were used as runners and they also used the same substances.

 He said substances such as crack cocaine, crystal methane and kat were on the rise and parents needed to step up by knowing their children’s habits and regularly checking the children’s bedroom and personal property where drugs could be kept.

 Mr Mothei Sekakgomo of BIRRO said they had less than 100 people in their boot camp where they rehabilitated drug users.

 Mr Sejakgomo said people who were withdrawn from drugs were more dangerous than those who used drugs, thereby using force to subdue them.

 He also said drug dealers were dangerous in that they wanted people to buy the drugs to enrich themselves and their families.

 He further said that dealers wanted the best for their children at the expense of the community where they peddled drugs.

 The workshop attracted men who are expected to spread the message across Gaborone West. men The objective of the workshop was to sensitise men on prostate cancer and mental health. Ends