Urology Centers of Alabama offered free prostate cancer screenings Saturday at the Pike County Health Department and 137 men took advantage of the opportunity.

“Saturday was a wonderful experience and everyone was very appreciative of us being in Pike County,” said Dr. Michael Bivins, Urology Centers of Alabama in Birmingham. “We screened 137 men, which was an increase of 23 from last year. That is a good indication of how this screening is growing and that the men of Pike County are overcoming the fear associated with prostate cancer screenings.”

Bivins said that he screened men Saturday as young as 37 and as old as 87.

“I think that is a good representation of the entire community,” he said. “We appreciate all the hard work the Pike County Health Department did to notify the residents of Pike County about the screening.”

Bivins said that one in six men will have prostate cancer. The screenings only take about 10 and those 10 minutes could save a man’s life.

For that reason, Urology Centers of Alabama offers the opportunity for free prostate cancer screenings in rural Alabama and to underserved populations.

“We want to reach out to those areas with free screenings because early diagnosis is the key,” he said. “If we can catch the cancer at the early stage, lives can be saved.”

For those who missed the free screenings, the next and nearest opportunities to participate in the Urology Centers of Alabama free screenings will be at the Lowndes County Health Department on May 4 and the Butler County Health Department on June 8. For more information contact the health departments in Lowndes County at 334-548-2564 and in Butler County at 334-382-3154.