The Men’s Health Night was a great success, with approximately 120 people attending. At the last minute, one of the main speakers called to advise that he had a patient overload and an emergency that prevented him from attending. Despite the short notice, a substitute speaker, Dr Steve Flecknoe-Brown from Broken Hill, gave a straight forward and sympathetic address on the problems of prostate disease and the advances in treatment that are now available. The main message was that prompt action, in the early stages, gives the best results, so don’t ignore the problem as it will not just simply go away.

You could have heard a pin drop at the back of the hall when Mark Pickford from Cumnock took us through his depression and its treatment. Mark’s courage in recounting his illness to a room full of complete strangers was extraordinary. Losing a friend’s jumper at the Easter Show was the trigger that revealed a deep-seated problem that was affecting Mark’s family and making his own life difficult and unhappy. Again the message was clear, don’t try to ignore the problem, it will not simply go away.

The evening was introduced by our own Dr Greg Dargan who gave an insight into why men have that macho image and a great reluctance to visit a doctor. Greg admirably set the scene for the evening. The problems of Caucasian skin and the effect of Australian sunlight were demonstrated by a powerpoint presentation by Dr Philip Brackley. Philip, a Canadian currently working in Birmingham, is on the Porsche scholarship with the Sydney Melanoma Institute and was so impressed with the evening that he has recommended to the Institute that they promote similar functions throughout the country. Melanoma is most frequent in rural areas and Australia has the highest incidence of melanoma in the world.

After all men went home much wiser with many expressing the opinion that the meeting was well worthwhile.