Blue November – Men's Health Awareness Month

We're approaching the end of November, but there's still time to talk about one of the most talked about topics of the penultimate month of the year: Blue November.

This campaign – which follows the model of its predecessor, the Pink October campaign – is the target of several actions throughout the month of November and that's what we're going to talk about!

In today's content, we'll talk a little more about this campaign and its importance for men's health.

To make it easier to read, this content will be divided into topics and will cover the following topics:

• What is Blue November?
• The main objectives of the Blue November action
• Men's resistance to the exam
• The history of the Blue November campaign in Brazil
• Conclusion

What is Blue November?

Blue November is a campaign focused on men's health and aims to combat prostate cancer, promoting awareness of the importance of regular exams for early diagnosis.

This campaign consists of holding various types of events – debates, lectures, advertising campaigns and distribution of informative content – with the aim of helping to raise awareness among the entire population of the dangers of the disease and the importance of testing and early diagnosis.

The campaign is an excellent way to spread this idea, as prostate cancer is currently the main type of tumor in men aged 50 and over. 

Furthermore, periodic examinations are necessary due to the fact that, in general, prostate cancer tends to be a silent and slow-growing disease. 

Generally, when the patient begins to experience symptoms caused by the tumor, the disease is already at a more advanced stage, making treatment more difficult.

What is the origin of the Blue November campaign?

Originating in Australia, the beginning of the movement that gave rise to Blue November as we know it today was thought up by a group of friends to draw attention to the issue. “men's health”. 

They chose November 2003 to start the movement in a rather curious way: they spent the entire month growing their mustaches – later, the mustache became one of the main symbols of the campaign. 

This action gave rise to the Movember Foundation – a combination of the words “moustache” and “november”. 

They didn't imagine it, but that year they launched one of the largest and most popular global awareness campaigns about a disease – second only to the Pink October campaign. 

The choice of the penultimate month of the year was also no coincidence. 

Another fact that contributed to the choice of the month is November 17th, the date on which World Prostate Cancer Day is celebrated.

The main objectives of the Blue November action

As mentioned previously, the main focus of the campaign is to raise awareness among as many men as possible about the importance of screening and early diagnosis. 

Unlike breast cancer – where the patient can perform a self-exam at home to look for suspicious nodules or lumps – a prostate exam can only be performed by a responsible doctor.

Men's resistance to the exam

During all these years that the campaign has been running, the main barrier encountered by the responsible institutions is the resistance that a large portion of men still have regarding prostate exams. 

Due to misinformation and, in most cases, prejudice, millions of men who are already in the recommended age range for the exam – from 45 years old – refuse to undergo the exam, which consists of a quick digital rectal exam performed by the doctor in charge.

It is important to keep in mind that, like so many other diseases, prostate cancer should ideally be discovered as quickly as possible. 

This way, the patient will have a better chance of receiving the appropriate treatment for their case and, consequently, a better chance of being cured.

What helps to give hope is that, despite the resistance of a portion of the male population, the Blue November campaigns have proven effective in their mission of alerting men to the dangers of the disease. 

The number of patients seeking to take the exam has grown each year, making the campaign a success overall.

The history of the Blue November campaign in Brazil

Having originated on the other side of the world, it was expected that the movement would take a while to reach Brazil, but that was not the case.

The campaign – still under the name Movember – arrived in Brazil in 2008. 

The Lado a Lado pela Vida Institute, together with the Brazilian Society of Urology (SBU), were largely responsible for the movement's arrival here. 

It didn't take long for Brazil to adapt the campaign to the Blue November we know today.

As mentioned previously, men's resistance to undergoing the exam is still very present. 

And here in Brazil, although this taboo is gradually being broken, a lot of work will still be needed for all men aged 45 or over to put prejudice aside and take the exam periodically.

This type of behavior among men only shows how necessary this campaign is to deconstruct this type of thinking. After all, prostate exams are just one of the health precautions men should take.

Conclusion

Despite the main focus on prostate cancer, the Blue November campaign served to raise a very important debate: men's health in general.

This is because there is still a portion of this population that does not pay the necessary attention to their health, and this is quite worrying. 

Therefore, it is important to remember that taking care of your health – whether physical or mental – goes far beyond Blue November or Pink October.

This is a care that should be taken throughout the year.
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