Bowel cancer screening programme could save up to 300 lives a year

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.

Professor Colm O’Morain, Dean of Health Sciences at Trinity College Dublin (TCD), said that he believed the cost of saving a life was in the region of €15,000 to €20,000 and he considered it money well spent.

Prof O’Morain was speaking yesterday at the launch of the first annual report of the Tallaght Hospital/TCD colorectal cancer pilot screening programme, which detected 50 cancers in the Tallaght area.