The legendary former West Indies cricket captain, Sir Clive Lloyd, Sunday appealed to Caribbean Group (Caricom) leaders to concentrate on combatting prostate most cancers as that they had performed to non-communicable ailments up to now.
Lloyd, who was one in every of two folks to obtain the area’s highest award, the Order of the Caribbean Group (OCC) in the course of the official ceremony of the opening of the forty seventh regional assembly, mentioned he hoped that the identical emphasis that was being positioned on addressing non-communicable ailments like hypertension and diabetes is given to prostate most cancers.
Worldwide knowledge exhibits that the Caribbean has one of many largest age-standardised prostate most cancers incidences.
“Can I, due to this fact, make a plea to the group and related officers that this matter turns into the main focus of pressing consideration and motion,” mentioned Lloyd, who captained the West Indies between 1974 and 1985.
The 79 year-old Guyanese born mentioned he hoped that Caricom well being ministers would take note of prostate most cancers, including that he couldn’t recall “that a lot has been mentioned about it within the area”.
“If I’m right, let what I say immediately be a name to motion as a result of each one in 4, we do contract this sickness and a number of our individuals are dying and dying needlessly,” he mentioned, including “we’d like males to go and get examined” to curb the variety of deaths from prostate most cancers.
He informed the ceremony that there at the moment are many different improved methods of testing males over the age of 40 for prostate most cancers which are extra exact than blood checks, together with salivary checks.
Lloyd additionally throughout his tackle proposed that the area organises an annual Caribbean cricket fundraiser to garner much-needed money to reply to the impression of hurricanes and different disasters.
“The Caribbean area can organise a serious cricket occasion and the most effective gamers from all around the world ought to have the ability to participate in a recreation per yr. I need it to be referred to as the Caricom Day of Cricket the place we will generate various funds in order that even when we don’t have a hurricane or two for the yr, the cash that we’ve got there can accrue some curiosity,” he mentioned.
Lloyd mentioned that even when there are not any storm impacts, the cash may very well be spent on addressing different issues.
“I hope that we will get this going, get it off the bottom as a result of it is going to be a vital recreation as a result of the cash that we will accrue will probably be very, crucial for the remainder of the Caribbean,” he mentioned.
In latest instances, a number of Caribbean nations have been hit by hurricanes which are way more ferocious leading to deaths and thousands and thousands of {dollars} in destruction.
With the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane season, which ends in November, simply 4 weeks previous, Hurricane Beryl, a class 5 storm, had on July 1 left a path of dying and destruction because it made its means by way of the Grenada’s dependencies of Carriacou and Petit Martinique, and people of St Vincent- Union Island, Bequia, Mayrou and Canoaun.
Jamaica was additionally closely impacted by Beryl and regional leaders say the hurricanes are on account of the impression of local weather change and have been blaming the extra developed nations for the scenario.
