The NHS must change how black men are treated for prostate cancer to prevent “an epidemic of unnecessary deaths” in which twice as many die as white men, campaigners have warned.
Academics are seeking to raise awareness that one in four black men are getting this cancer, twice the rate of white men, which is one in eight, according to Prostate Cancer UK’s analysis of patient datasets for England. One in 12 black men are at risk of dying of this condition compared with one in 24 white men.
“We are living through an epidemic of unnecessary deaths of black men,” said Stafford Scott a community activist. “Prostate cancer is not colour blind. Not only is the death rate twice as high in black men as white men but we are being diagnosed late and so are coming into the system late.”
Scott, the director of the organisation Tottenham Rights and a guest professor of forensic architecture at Goldsmiths, University of London is teaming up with experts to launch a podcast series calling for fundamental changes in the NHS approach to prostate cancer and its high incidence among black men to prevent many more deaths.
This would reflect Prostate Cancer UK’s call to change “outdated NHS guidelines” so that GPs can be advised to start conversations with black men earlier and discuss with them taking prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood tests to indicate cancer.
Approximately 55,300 new prostate cancer cases are diagnosed across the UK every year and this figure is projected to rise by 15% in the next 15 years.
Scott suggested that prostate cancer diagnosis and treatment could also be improved through broader NHS reforms, such as improving how it recruits and promotes black staff, including into leadership positions; partnering with black-led organisations to rebuild trust; improving transparency of health data; and increasing independent oversight of the NHS treatment black men receive.
“For too long, black men have been failed by the very system that is meant to keep us well. The result is a cycle of mistrust, late intervention, and preventable deaths,” he said.
Scott has teamed up with Michael Morgan, a TV presenter, producer and director and Dr Sara Paparini, a senior lecturer in public health and equity at Queen Mary University of London, for the podcast series called A Dialogue of Equals, a collaboration between black men, professors working inside the healthcare system and community advocates.
The podcast began as conversations of personal experiences with NHS services among “black men of a certain age” about how the NHS can better serve this community.
Scott, Morgan and Paparini are determined to reverse the disproportionate death toll.
“Every week I’m going to a funeral of a black man who has died of cancer,” said Scott. “We are calling for better relationships between our communities and the NHS. In this dialogue between black men and professors we place equal value on knowledge from communities and from experts.
“We are challenging the NHS to look at us holistically and not in silos. We are trying to build capacity among black men to hold the NHS to account.”
Morgan said: “As men we are terrible at talking about things. In our podcast series we’re having candid conversations about health and institutional racism. We’re told that as black men we’re a hard to reach group. Funny they say that when the police find it very easy to reach us.”
Guests on the podcast include Prabhakar Rajan, a professor of urology and robotic surgery at Queen Mary University of London and Prof Habib Naqvi, the chief executive of the NHS Race and Health Observatory.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:“We know Black men are at higher risk of prostate cancer and that’s why we are backing Prostate Cancer UK’s trial with £16 million to find better ways to detect the disease, ensuring that 1 in 10 of those invited to participate are Black men.
“Any changes to screening must be guided by expert advice – the UK National Screening Committee is considering the latest evidence and we will act on their findings.
“In the meantime, we’re getting on with improving cancer treatment and prevention by deploying cutting-edge technology and opening community diagnostic centres across the country.”