Australian journalist Melissa Sweet offers an alternative perspective to that given by an Australian politician who publicly encouraged men to be screened for prostate cancer based on his own personal experience.
The politician wrote: “It is an easy choice really.”
But Sweet countered:
“Actually, it’s not an easy choice at all, and someone in (his) position, of influence and with access to high quality information, should know better than to reduce such a complex health decision to a simplistic punchline.”
She offers context and background for public discussion on this issue, but also provides a look at how ugly the public debate on prostate cancer screening has become in Australia.
Opinions on other issues in news, journals, PR, advertising, marketing
Monday at #ADA2021, an infectious disease epidemiologist, a journalist, and a researcher shared perspectives on communication of risk in the era of COVID-19: http://ow.ly/ROfR30rMeE7 @AstleyCM @garyschwitzer @berthahidalgo @ADA_DiabetesPro
Shoutouts to @susan_bewley @drkevinknopf @MichaelBaum11 in this call for more than fawning coverage from press releases for these kinds of stories.
Also, linked history inside goes back 5 years just on Grail apparently trying to become Holy Grail. https://twitter.com/garyschwitzer/status/1408849696416841731
Comments
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Susan Fitzgerald
January 27, 2011 at 11:51 amExcellent – I hope you and other journalists will keep dogging this and other screening issues.
When the inventor of the prostate cancer blood test says “just say no,” it’s time to listen:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/10/opinion/10Ablin.html?_r=1
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