Mayors are issuing PCAM proclamations, writing letters to editors, initiating public information campaigns, and encouraging city employees to seek cancer screening, among other activities.

In promoting PCAM across the country, the Conference of Mayors is working closely with two organizations: Kappa Alpha Psi and its Prostate Cancer Global Awareness Campaign (Kappa is one of the largest African American male organizations in the world); and the American Cancer Society with its network of local and regional units.

Other collaborating organizations are the National Prostate Cancer Coalition, Family to Family Prostate Cancer Support Group, the Intercultural Cancer Council, and Cancer Awareness Program Services. AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP provided support for USCM's PCAM materials.

A special partner in promoting 2000 PCAM is the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health, which is publicizing this USCM initiative throughout the islands in cooperation with the Virgin Islands Urological Center and local administrators.

Overall CDC Support
USCM conducts both the prostate cancer coalition and the breast cancer campaign under a five-year cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The Mayors' Coalition for Prostate Cancer Awareness and Education — now in its third month with more than eighty members — places special emphasis on informed decision making for screening and treatment. The Mayors' Campaign Against Breast Cancer, now completing its third year, concentrates on encouraging eligible women to take advantage of CDC-supported mammography. Both of these initiatives focus upon outreach to minority populations and the medically underserved.

Mayors Issuing Proclamations, Writing Letters to the Editor, and Undertaking Special Activities in Observance of 2000 Prostate Cancer Awareness Month
Mayors throughout the nation have issued Proclamations, written letters to the editors of their local newspapers, and taken the lead in raising awareness in observance of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Among the Mayors reporting on special activities in observance of the month:

Mayor Steve Cassandro, Manchester, CT — Reaching Seniors
Focusing upon the city's seniors citizens, the Manchester Health Department oriented the mayor's prostate cancer information program toward older men.

Mayor Richard I. Kaplan, Lauderhill, FL — Setting the Example
The mayor took the lead in creating a multi-city program with the NW Council of Mayors to provide free Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) blood tests at multiple sites. He and Lauderhill city commissioners publicized this opportunity by having their own PSA tests done on live television during a commission meeting. Several newspapers did follow-up articles on this event.

Mayor Anthony Arredia, Des Plains, IL — Informing the Community
The mayor had prostate cancer awareness brochures distributed to all 625 city employees and at community health outreach events. He also directed that the "Ask the Nurse"column of the Des Plaines Digest — a newsletter the city sends to all households — be dedicated to prostate cancer.

Mayor Rose G. Krasnow, Rockville, MD — Awareness for City Employees
Rockville's city employees learned about prostate cancer through the mayor's awareness program.

Mayor David Gately, Waltham, MA — Working with Community Partners
The mayor's public information campaign to promote prostate cancer awareness was enhanced by the city's alliance with Deaconess-Waltham Hospital.

Mayor Suzanne K. Hall, Southgate, MI — Replicating Success
The mayor is working with "Women Celebrating Life — Breast Cancer Awareness" to start a similar program for prostate cancer awareness in Southgate.

Mayor Timothy McDonough, Hope, NJ — Mayor's Prostate Cancer Awareness Task Force
By bringing representatives together from business, education, public health, and health care in a task force, the mayor is able to bring his prostate cancer awareness campaign to all sectors of community.

Mayor Douglas H. Palmer, Trenton, NJ — Getting the Word Out to City Employees
Concerned about the city's 1,700 employees, the mayor wrote a prostate cancer awareness letter to be inserted in September paycheck envelopes along with ACS information cards. The Trenton Division of Health has promoted prostate cancer awareness activities at three senior citizen centers — and continues to participate in the prostate cancer awareness planning and screening activities of the NJ Cancer Education and Early Detection program.

Mayor Debora Mallin, Bedford Heights, OH — Cancer Prevention Leave
As the mayor explained in her letter to all city employees, the "Mayor's Cancer Initiative" grants special leave for mammograms, PAP tests, and prostate cancer screening. These hours are separate from normal sick, personal or vacation time.

Mayor Richard Watkins, Canton, OH — Outreach to the Underserved
Under the leadership of the mayor, a local clinic is offering exams for prostate cancer, an effort publicized by the media.

Mayor Scott Avedisian, Warwick, RI — Leave for Cancer Screening
So as to underscore the availability of up to four hours of special leave for cancer screening, the mayor held a prostate cancer awareness and education program for city employees.

Mayor Robert A. Stluka, Jr. — Round Rock, TX
The mayor publicized his promotion of PCAM through a press release.

Mayor Martin S. Ryan, Fond du Lac, WI — Raising Community Awareness
The mayor is promoting prostate cancer awareness through a public information campaign.