It’s week 2 of LottoStar’s May Money Madness competition with Kfm and this week’s total charity contributions will go towards our second charity, Project Peacock – a non-profit organisation offering surgeries to men diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer in men in over one half of the countries in the world and a leading cause of cancer death in many countries, particularly in sub – Saharan Africa. In South Africa, there were 476 cases of prostate cancer reported to the Ekurhuleni Population-Based Cancer Registry in 2018 resulting in an ASR for all males of 30.96/100 000 and a lifetime risk of 1:25 men”, reported the National Health Laboratory Service.

Prostate cancer treatment was previously offered in the private healthcare facilities only and due to the high costs involved, it could not be offered in the public healthcare sector.

However, with funding and contributions towards Project Peacock, this narrative was changed and over 2 years later, this procedure is now made available in public hospitals.

What is Project Peacock
Project Peacock was co-founded by Urologist, Dr. Justin Howlett, to offer prostrate cancer treatment to those who couldn’t afford it through donations and contributions.

Dr. Justin Howlett’s main concerns are the poor awareness surrounding prostate cancer and the inaccessible urology services in the Western Cape, which leads to late detections or diagnosis in patients.

It’s the organisation’s main aim to address and improve the situation through their public-private partnerships that will enable over 12 men to receive life-saving brachytherapy at the Groote Schuur hospital, in a year.

There’s currently a huge burden at Groote Schuur for prostate cancer patients awaiting dates for treatment. The wait could be for months and those with non-urgent urology cases are placed on a year-long waiting list.

The current treatment options available for prostate patients are surgery or radiotherapy.

However, Project Peacock is the only state institution in South Africa to offer brachytherapy – a minimally aggressive therapeutic option. It is often used to cure cancers of the head and neck, breast, cervix, prostate, and eye.

How to get involved
To assist Project Peacock in promoting and improving prevention, detection, treatment, and research of prostate cancer in the Western Cape, please click here.