NOVEMBER SPOTLIGHT: MEN'S HEALTH AWARENESS MONTH

Creating awareness of men's health is one of the top goals of AAMN. And one of the biggest efforts to promote men's health is going on this month, when November is often promoted around the world as "Movember." 

Many people associate Movember with nothing more than a no-shave month for men as they grow out mustaches and beards -- and that is how the movement started. But since then, Movember has exploded into an international men's health initiative that has funded more than 1,250 men's health projects since its inception in 2003.

Movember began in Australia in 2003 when two friends -- Travis Garone and Luke Slattery -- were hanging out in a bar in Australia and noticed that few men were growing mustaches any more. They wanted to see if they could bring back this "retro" fashion trend and found 30 others who were willing to do the same. It created some buzz within their social community, but that was about the extent of the initial Movember.

A year later, they brought back Movember, but this time tied in donations to prostate cancer research in Australia. Through online publicity, nearly 500 people helped raise more than $40,000 for the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

Involvement surged in 2005, and by its third year, Movember was a licensed charity approaching $1 million in donations for prostate cancer research. By 2008, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Spain, the UK and United States joined the Movember movement.

Today, nearly two dozen countries are officially part of the Movember project. And while prostate cancer is still the primary focus of the charity's efforts, testicular cancer research, mental health initiatives, and even improving men's parenting skills are now among its objectives.

Learn more about the history, and incredible achievements, of Movember at https://us.movember.com/?home.