Even the Sky Tower gets the blues | Auckland News | Local News in Auckland

Auckland’s Sky Tower will be bathed in blue light for the rest of September to launch the beginning of the Prostate Cancer Foundation’s annual awareness campaign, Blue September.

Blue Friday, September 3, is the Prostate Cancer National Street Appeal. SkyCity will use the tower as a beacon for the charity to raise awareness throughout the month.

For more information and to make a donation to help fight the disease, see www.blueseptember.org

Blue September

Each year, over 2500 men in New Zealand are diagnosed with prostate cancer. A further 600 will die from the disease. 

Prostate cancer is a preventable disease. It is estimated that on average at least half of those annual deaths could have been avoided had the sufferer sought advice from a health professional in a timely manner.

Prostate cancer can be cured if detected and treated early while still confined to the prostate gland. The tests for prostate cancer are the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test and the digital rectal examination. These tests do not give a conclusive diagnosis of cancer but can indicate the presence of prostate cancer. While prostate cancer is most common in men over the age of 50, younger men with a history of prostate cancer in their family are at greater risk.