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Barbershops assist in prostate screening

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Published: Sept. 7, 2007 at 2:22 PM
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ATLANTA, Sept. 7 (UPI) -- A cancer survivor is helping more than 4,000 U.S. barbers provide prostate cancer education and screening to minority men.

The program was founded by businessman Virgil Simons, who became a cancer crusader after being diagnosed with prostate cancer 12 years ago, Newsday said Thursday. He founded The Prostate Net as a way to teach people about the disease.

Simons, who is black, said he was inspired by the 2004 movie "Barbershop," which highlighted the neighborhood barbershop as a natural gathering place for black men. The newspaper said black Americans have a 60 percent higher risk of prostate cancer compared to whites, in large part because they often lack access to routine healthcare.

The program, which started with 300 barbers and screening for 20,000 men, works with more than 100 medical centers across the country.

A report on the The Prostate Net is being presented this week at the Innovative Minds in Prostate Cancer Today 2007 meeting in Atlanta, the newspaper said.

© 2007 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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