Ready, Set, Grow! It's Movember

Join the family – register today at Movember.com

TORONTO, Oct. 31, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Gentlemen, start your moustaches! It's Movember, the time of year when men across the country sprout moustaches to help raise funds and awareness for men's health initiatives, specifically prostate cancer and male mental health. Last year 246,000 Canadians grew to the challenge to become the world's leading fundraising nation, with $42 million raised. Let's keep the mo'mentum growing. Visit Movember.com to register today and find our about this year's theme – Movember & Sons passing knowledge back and forth.

Once registered, men, known as Mo Bros, start Movember 1st clean-shaven and grow their moustache for 30 days, getting friends, family and colleagues to donate to their Mo-growing efforts. During that time they become walking, talking billboards for men's health. Female participants, called Mo Sistas, play a crucial role during the campaign by acting as team captains, recruiting others to join, sparking conversations, lending support to Mo Bros who grow, and raising general awareness for the importance of men's health.

"Last year was truly amazing, 246,000 Mo Bros and Mo Sistas from coast to coast shared their upper lips and their passion to make Canada Movember's number one fundraising nation in the world," said Pete Bombaci, National Director, Movember Canada. "That support and passion makes it possible for us to diminish stigma, start conversations and make an everlasting impact on men's health."

I've been doing Movember for a few years now and last year I was able to sit down and have a conversation with my dad about Movember, men's health and prostate cancer. Because of this he went to talk to his doctor about screening and has since discovered he had prostate cancer." Commented Jean-Aymeri de Magistris, Mo Bro from Montreal "He is currently going through treatment but it just shows how having these conversations about men's health and sharing this knowledge is so important. Knowledge is power.

CHANGING THE FACE OF MEN'S HEALTH

To date, Movember has invested over $64 million to prostate cancer initiatives across Canada in the areas of awareness and education, research and survivorship. This year Movember will address both prostate cancer and male mental health. Male Mental health is a new addition for Movember Canada and a critical issue for Canadian men.

• 1 in 5 of Canadian men are affected by mental health issues each year
• 4 out of 5 suicides among young people in Canada are committed by men, despite men's lower reported rates of depression
• 1 in 4 cancer patients experience clinical depression
• The risk of suicide in men with prostate cancer is over 4 times that of a similarly aged man without prostate cancer
• Men are between 3 and 4 times more likely to commit suicide than women

Funds from the 2012 campaign will benefit prostate cancer and male mental health initiatives through Prostate Cancer Canada (PCC), Movember's Global Action Plan (GAP) and the Canadian Male Health Network (CMHN). For more information on programs we fund visit Movember.com.

MO ON THE GO

Download the free Movember Mobile App for iPhone and Android and Mo like a pro. Recruit Mo Bros and Mo Sistas, view the Mo Style Guide, check out men's health facts, view and request donations, and track your progress on the fly.

Movember's 2012 Canadian major partners include Schick and Harley-Davidson®.

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Jill Kenney
jill@getfreshpr.com
778.837.1122

Caitilin Doherty
caitilin.doherty@northstrategic.com
416-371-3762

About Movember

Movember aims to forever change the face of men's health through the power of the moustache by raising awareness and funds for men's health issues, specifically prostate cancer and male mental health. Since its inception as a charity event in 2004, over 2 million participants have raised almost $300 M for its causes, with official Movember campaigns taking place in 21 countries. For more information please visit movember.com or @MovemberCA.  Movember is a registered charity in Canada - BN 848215604 RR0001.

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