Sports journalist Christian Micallef reveals why he took on this year’s Movember challenge
November is the month where dudes unite to grow their 'stache in support of prostate cancer, a health issue that one in two men across the globe face at some point in their lives. Movember is a yearly initiative that challenges men from all walks of life to bring about awareness and courage. The fact that 98 per cent of early diagnosis is treatable is amazing - but breaking the macho barriers is something that makes men shy away from getting tested. But, sports journalist, Christian Micallef, wants to bring major awareness to the locals of Malta and Gozo and has organised a group effort to give testicular cancer a piece of his mind.
Christian has teamed up with local footballers to bring awareness to the public. His active engagement with Malta’s public, through the television football show Replay, could be the encouragement local men need to understand what Movember is all about.
“Replay is celebrating 20 years of television and, throughout this season, we will be organising various events to celebrate this milestone including initiatives to create positive awareness with Movember as our goal for this month.”
By teaming up with big brand Gillette, and marketing experts VJ Salomone, Christian and his team will help “to raise awareness on men’s health issues, namely prostate cancer, testicular cancer, poor mental health and physical inactivity. Our primary audience is men, so we felt that we should embark on this campaign to create consciousness whilst trying to send out a positive message to our viewers.”
But what impact does ‘growing a moustache’ have on the public? Christian believes that “growing a moustache is more of a symbolic way to show that you are supporting the Movember campaign and that you want to create awareness. I think, year after year, Movember is increasing in its popularity and is reaching new audiences. After all, the most important thing is not the moustache but having knowledge of what men need to enjoy a long-lasting and healthy life. This is a reminder that annual check-ups can help save lives.”
Collaborating on this challenge with local footballers is another goal that Christian wants to achieve during this year’s campaign, and he believes that familiar faces will increase awareness and draw more people in. “In order to make this campaign more attractive you need to have popular faces and since I host Replay, a football TV show, we opted to have four footballers, one of them a survivor of testicular cancer together with a referee, a football pundit and myself. All of us are growing a moustache and promoting it through our social media platform and TV.”
Christian’s ultimate goal, in this entire campaign, is to strive for proactive annual checks with our doctors, where men can seek early diagnosis and stand a chance in fighting health issues such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer as well as mental health issues. This sense of community is what will encourage the public to speak up and put their health at their primary concern.
“Men grow their moustaches and beards during the month of November to raise awareness of various cancers. A serious health issue affecting men: prostate cancer. My message is to urge all men to be attentive and to speak about their health with their doctors. It’s OK not to be OK. Let’s stop being shy and speak out - our lives could depend on it.”