The Oklahoma Eagle Newswire
In commemoration of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, The Prostate Health Education Network (PHEN) is hosting its 16th Annual African American Prostate Cancer Disparity Summit,– this time with a twist. Instead of a Washington D.C. weekend of workshops and symposiums featuring medical experts and advocates, there will be informational sessions every Wednesday from 2-4:30 p.m. (EST) all month long, and all ON LINE. The summit kicks off September 9th with a Town Hall on “The Impact of COVID-19 on the Prostate Cancer Racial Disparity.” The moderator will be Edith Mitchell, MD. MACP, FACP. Dr. Mitchell, who is President of the National Medical Association, is also a Clinical Professor of Medicine and Medical Oncology at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia PA.
Other sessions are: September 16th on “Clinical Trials, Important Studies and African- American Patients;” September 23rd, on “Understanding Treatment Pathways for Prostate Cancer and Empowering Patients;” September 30th on the “Importance of Community Outreach and Engagement on Eliminating the Prostate Cancer Racial Disparity.”
“We are now in a position to reach countless more people electronically than would be the case with a D.C.-based event,” said Thomas Farrington, Founder and President of PHEN, who collaborates with Black church leaders as well as medical and pharmaceutical experts on programs. Farrington, a 20-year prostate cancer survivor, established the organization with the mission “to eliminate the prostate cancer racial disparity.” According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, prostate cancer is the second leading cause of death of African-Americans behind lung cancer. About one in five Black men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during his lifetime with the highest prostate cancer incidence and mortality rates in the United States.
The weekly sessions will be carried live via Zoom, on Facebook and YouTube. The programs will be available live at www.prostatehealthed.org.
ABOUT PHEN
The Prostate Health Education Network (PHEN) is the leading patient education and advocacy organization addressing the prostate health needs of African-American men. Based in Quincy, MA, PHEN, a 501c(3) organization founded in 2003, sponsors educational webcasts, the Annual Father’s Day Rally, education symposiums with church partners, and the Annual African-American Prostate Cancer Disparity Summit in Washington, DC
