By Neto Baptiste
Members of the public are being urged to pedal for a cause during this Sunday’s Blue-Gold Ride for Prostate & Childhood Cancer Awareness being put on by the Medical Benefit Scheme (MBS) Prevention Unit.
One member of the organising committee, Dr Shivon Belle-Jarvis, said the initiative, which is being held in conjunction with the Sir Lester Bird Medical Center and the Antigua and Barbuda Cycling Federation (ABCF), is aimed at sensitising the public on how both types of cancers affect individuals and the wider society.
“Childhood cancer is real and, unfortunately, many persons do not associate cancer with children at all; they think it’s an adult disease. But I am here to remind the general public that cancer does affect children, and not just internationally, but also in Antigua and Barbuda. What we do find is that, internationally, we have about 400,000 children per year who are affected by cancer,” she said.
“Here in Antigua and Barbuda we need to create a registry because remember children are seen both in public practice and private practice. But what I can say from the Sir Lester Bird Medical Center’s perspective is that in at least 2021, we had two children diagnosed with cancer and this year already, we’ve had one child diagnosed with cancer and it’s very devastating,” the doctor added.
President of the cycling federation, St Clair Williams, explained that the body got involved immediately after being contacted by the organisers.
“We don’t only do cycling for racing, we also participate in things like these to bring awareness, and we have done it before with Dr Belle-Jarvis and we continue to support them in any venture that would bring awareness to the entire country, so we are in full gear. We have reached out to our membership and we continue to reach out to persons who have a bike, or they can borrow one or rent one for Sunday, but we want to fill the streets with blue and gold going up on the bikes,” he said.
Josina France, HR Assistant at MBS, outlined what will take place on the day of the event.
“At 3 o’clock we will have a brief discussion on the importance of prostate screening and at 3:15 pm a brief childhood cancer discourse, and then at 3:30 pm promptly, we will start the cycling event,” she said.
“Our route will be from MBS headquarters up Nevis Street, left onto Independence Drive, right onto Factory Road, and straight onto the Vivian Richards Stadium. When we get there, we will take one ride circular around the stadium and then we go into the stadium where our participants will get some light refreshments,” she added.
Those wishing to register for the event can do so by calling 481-6352, 81-6266 or 764-5498.