Blue November: learn about the campaign and its importance

With the end of another month of October, we say goodbye to pink and enter blue. This is because, in the penultimate month of the year, the Pink October campaign gives way to Blue November.

What is Blue November?

I'm sure you've heard of this campaign too. After all, it's probably one of the most famous awareness campaigns – second only to the well-known Pink October.

For those who still don't know what it's about, Blue November is the official campaign to raise awareness and fight prostate cancer.

Throughout the month, the disease – which, after skin cancer, is the type of cancer that most affects men – is the focus of events, debates and another series of informative content, with the aim of helping to raise awareness.

Currently, prostate cancer is the main type of recurrent tumor in men over 50 years of age.

And, as it is a slow and silent disease in most cases, it raises a warning sign regarding the importance of carrying out tests for early diagnosis and adequate treatment of the disease.

Despite having this specific focus, over time, the campaign has become an excellent tool for generating debates about men's health in general, and how care is important for men – of all ages – who seek better health in their daily lives.

What is the origin of the Blue November campaign?

The campaign, which originated in Australia, took its first steps in 2003, and had a rather curious beginning: a group of friends started the movement by letting their mustaches grow throughout the month, with the aim of drawing attention to the issue of “men's health”.

It was from this action that the Movember Foundation emerged – a pun on “november” and “moustache”, words that, translated into Portuguese, mean November and mustache.

Nowadays, the mustache symbol is also widely used during Blue November actions around the world.

The month also became a symbol of this fight due to November 17th, World Prostate Cancer Day.

The main objectives of the Blue November campaign

Just like Pink October – which represents awareness about breast cancer – and other campaigns that are represented by colors throughout the year, the main focus of Blue November is to raise awareness in society about the disease.

The main objective of the campaign is to highlight the importance of prevention and early diagnosis of prostate cancer and other diseases that affect men's health as a whole.

By always emphasizing the importance of carrying out periodic examinations so that the disease can be diagnosed as early as possible, the patient can begin appropriate medical treatment and, thus, ensure a greater chance of a cure.

Another barrier the campaign faces is the resistance of part of the male population to undergoing prostate exams.

Due to how the exam is performed – through a digital rectal exam – it is not difficult to find men who, despite being within the age range recommended for such a procedure, have no interest in doing so.

This type of attitude – most of the time driven by pure prejudice – only contributes to the growth of misinformation on the subject, resulting in more and more patients who have the disease without even knowing it, and only realize it when the cancer is already in more advanced stages of development.

That's why the Blue November campaign is so important for men's health.

The Blue November campaign in Brazil

The campaign didn't take long to spread to Brazil. In 2008, Movember arrived in Brazil, brought by the Instituto Lado a Lado pela Vida, together with the Sociedade Brasileira de Urologia (SBU).

. The campaign was “Brazilianized” and became the Blue November that we know today.

When talking about the disease here in Brazil, one of the biggest barriers the campaign faces is the presence of taboos created by society about performing a digital rectal exam.

During the campaigns that have been taking place every year since 2008, the main focus is to deconstruct prejudices that prevent many men from seeking to learn more about the disease and about taking the test for those who have already passed it and reached the age of 45/50.

Over the years, the campaign gained strength and, today, it is one of the most famous, along with Pink October and the recent Yellow September.

Here in Brazil, awareness is marked by holding events, debates and publicity actions about prostate cancer, such as lectures on preventive measures that can be taken and campaigns in favor of regular exams that can diagnose the disease.

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Conclusion

As you can see, Blue November is a campaign as important as its predecessor.

But awareness about prostate cancer is even more necessary, given that a large portion of the male population, for a variety of reasons, end up putting their health on the back burner, not treating it as a priority.

Talking about the campaign is also important so that some paradigms and taboos about masculinity are broken once and for all, making men start to pay due attention to taking care of their health, whether physical or mental.

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