Politicians call for prostate cancer screening to be covered by OHIP

There’s a new call for the Ontario government to support a cancer test that can be critical for men; although the people calling for this test to be paid for by the government say it’s also an important issue for women.

With baseball fans headed to Rogers Centre tonight to watch a remote World Series feed, advocates for prostate cancer testing say the statistics show thousands of those men will have cancer and won’t know it.

Advocates say many of those men won’t survive.

“We have a Blue Jays game with 45,000 people there. There are 3,000 men in that audience that have no idea they have prostate cancer until they get tested,” said Dave Flus, prostate cancer survivor.

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Advocates say the answer is the PSA test for Prostate-Specific Antigen to detect prostate cancer early before there are any symptoms.

Flus of St. Catharines says it worked for him when a friend dying of cancer urged him to get tested.

“That really saved my life because I would not be here if I wasn’t, because I had a very aggressive kind of cancer,” Flus said. “And that was 13 years ago this year. So I would not have walked my daughter down the aisle. I would not have seen my grandchildren being born.”

But some men aren’t getting the test because of the cost – about $40 to $50 when they may need the money for their family and don’t feel any symptoms.

“Or they say, I’m a big tough guy, I don’t have to do this. I feel fine and I know I don’t have cancer,” Flus said.

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Niagara NDP MPP Wayne Gates is renewing his call for the test to be covered by OHIP for all men with the support of other parties and MPP’s.

“Thirteen men a day. That’s grandpas, husbands, friends, brothers, neighbours, early detection is the key,” he said.

Bobbi Ann Brady, Haldimand Norfolk Independent MPP said prostate cancer is the third-leading cause of deaths from cancer for men in Canada.

“Its time we prioritize men,” she said.

Mike Schreiner, Ontario Green Party Leader said when it’s not covered by OHIP it sends the message that it’s not a government priority.

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The office of Ontario’s Health Minister told CHCH News today that PSA tests are covered by OHIP when prostate cancer is suspected.

Otherwise, there are too many false positives and the test is not reliable enough.

But Dave Flus says he’s still here thanks to the PSA test.

“Without a PSA test I wouldn’t be here to talk to you today,” he said. “It’s a life-saving blood test that should be available to all men free of charge.”