On Friday, October 24^th, Johnny Magee, Mayor of the City of Laurel, and Tim Waldrup, Mayor of the City of Ellisville, signed proclamations declaring October 24^th – November 21^st as MoVember Season throughout Jones County.  MoVember’s aim each year is to fulfill the vision of having an everlasting impact on the face of men’s health by continuing to spark conversation and spread awareness of men’s health issues each year. Through the international MoVember campaign, there has been a significant understanding of the health risks that men face and what they should do to prevent cancer and mental health related issues.

The universal symbol for MoVember is the mustache. “The mustache is a great way to get people’s attention. People who may not normally grow mustaches are participating during the month of November by growing one” said Nate Beach, Plant Leader at GE Aviation. “But, the goal is to really raise awareness for men’s health issues so they will lead long and healthy lives.”

In 2013, Beach and the male employees of GE Aviation, challenged Doug Higginbotham, President and Chief Executive Officer of South Central Regional Medical Center, and a team of male physicians and employees from the South Central Health System, to a mustache growing contest. The event raised so much awareness that this year GE and SCRMC challenged industries throughout Jones County to join the movement. MoVember teams for 2014 include: City of Ellisville, City of Laurel, Ellisville State School, GE Aviation, Jones County Junior College, Jones County School District, Laurel School District and South Central Regional Medical Center.

Five representatives will be official mo-growers from each organization from Friday, October 24^th through Friday, November 21st. The categories that the mo-growers will be able to compete for include:

• Best Moustache Overall
• Longest Moustache
• Most Unique Moustache
• Worst Moustache Overall
• Best Waxed Moustache Overall

“There are very few initiatives which focus on men’s health and this effort is one of the best,” said Doug Higginbotham, President and CEO of South Central Regional Medical Center. “It’s an international movement and it is great to see the participation involved to raise awareness for preventative health care.”

Male employees from each of the facilities are competing in the challenge. Team members will be judged on Friday, November 21^st during a team luncheon. Those participating have committed to wear their “Ask Me About MoVember” button and educate men during MoVember Season about health related illnesses such as prostate cancer, testicular cancer and mental health related issues that impact men.

The Hairy Facts:

• One new case of prostate cancer occurs every 2.2 minutes and a man dies from the disease every 17.5 minutes.
• If detected and treated early, prostate cancer has a 97 percent success rate.
• 7,920 new cases of testicular cancer are expected to be diagnosed annually.
• A man’s lifetime chance of having testicular cancer is about 1 in 270.
• Over 6 million men (7% of the population) are diagnosed with depression each year.
• One of the most common manifestations of mental illness is depression.

For more information about men’s health or to find a health care provider, visit South Central Regional Medical Center on the web at scrmc.com.