A €6 MILLION investment in a national bowel cancer screening programme could save up to 300 lives per annum, according to an expert in diagnosing the disease.

A PILOT bowel cancer screening programme detected cancer in 11% of test cases, an Oireachtas Committee was told yesterday.

PATIENTS are having to wait up to nine months for bowel cancer tests, instead of within six weeks of seeing their GP, research shows.

A DISEASE that claims nearly 1,000 Irish lives every year could be stopped in its tracks if the Government acts now, according to a leading medic.

Colon cancer kills 1,800 people in Ireland every year.