4 February (Part 1) - What will it take for you to get checked?
There was only one item on Monday’s Adults & Social Care Scrutiny Meeting
Agenda that looked as though it might be interesting; the discussion on Health
in the North of the Borough. Geographically I live there but not in a particularly
deprived part. Nevertheless the health of people living nearby is of interest
because I see some aspects of it almost daily. One would not, for example, believe that fewer than 12% of Britons
smoke if you saw the crowds descending on Abbey Wood Station. Many of those who
arrive trailing smoke are young and black as if they are oblivious of the risks
they are running. Few of my age will not have seen someone succumb to lung cancer.
The passengers arriving on buses that start in Thamesmead are predominantly black and Bexley
Council has reported before how they do not look after themselves properly. For example, far worse outcomes in pregnancy and cancers.
Readers who are unfamiliar with the area may have no clue as to how black
it is. Not a particularly new phenomenon; a very long time ago my daughter, a journalist, produced a
documentary on Thamesmead which she wanted to call ‘Lagos on Thames’. The lawyers wouldn’t let her.
A month ago when I was waiting for a bus at the station
with an out-of-town friend a 229 arrived full. Don’t worry I said, it will empty
here and you may be surprised to see that every single one of the passengers
will be black. I was wrong. The bus emptied but there was one white woman among them. Maybe
only black people in Thamesmead go to work.
It was much the same when I repeated my informal census soon after nine yesterday morning.
Only three white faces.
There
may be some who will say that counting faces is racist and if so I do not care.
The word racist has lost all meaning and when
local politicians call me a racist It
serves only to display their aversion to facts. I have had Nigerian neighbours
for all of the past 20 years and never considered moving house.
However, racism or not, the fact remains that health issues in the North of the
Borough are a serious problem and it is related to ethnicity.
For reasons unknown, the Committee did not debate the issue, important though it
undoubtedly is, but the Agenda was quite interesting.
• 71% of the North of the borough is more deprived than the England Median.
• Significant lower cancer screening. Breast, bowel and cervical.
• Incidence of lung cancer and prostate cancer significantly above the English average.
For the record, I was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2006. No symptoms, I
simply asked my GP for a blood test. The cancer was treated and I lived for 19 years with no adverse impact on life whatsoever. Last year, when there were signs of a
recurrent problem it was treated again. The blood tests are clear once more although
the after-effects linger. But is is better than being dead.
Get the bloody thing checked. One in twelve black men dies from prostate cancer.
Note: The foregoing was written yesterday afternoon. Total coincidence but the Nigerian lady who rented the house next door until August 2024 called me during the evening to enquire after my health. She is doing very well for herself. Since moving to Lincolnshire she passed her driving test first time and bought her own house.