In your 60s? Register now for your free bowel cancer test kit
Getting yourself checked through BowelScreen couldn't be easier — register for the service and follow the instructions that come with the simple test kit delivered to your home.
To mark the start of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, the HSE is urging people in their 60s to check that they are on the bowel screen register and to do the free home test.
BowelScreen is one of the National Screening Service's three cancer-screening programmes and is the first screening programme to address cancer in men.
The service detects bowel cancer as early as possible and to identify and remove abnormal tissue growths. This reduces the risk of future bowel cancer development.
People are asked to make sure that they are registered with BowelScreen to receive the FIT (faecal immunochemical test) test in the post, when appropriate and to take it.
“This Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, we urge everyone aged 60-69 years to check that they are on the bowel screening register, and to do the test," said the clinical director of BowelScreen, Professor Pádraic Mac Mathúna.
Professor Mac Mathúna said bowel cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in Ireland among men and women — but that, when detected early, it can be treated successfully.
“Bowel cancer [colorectal cancer] is one of the most common types of cancer diagnosed in Ireland, affecting around 2,800 people every year.
"If detected at an early or pre-cancer stage, bowel cancer is easier to treat and there is a better chance of cure. Bowel Cancer Awareness Month serves as an annual reminder to people in their 60s to do the test. It is free, it is simple, and it could help save their life,” said Professor Mac Mathúna.
BowelScreen offers home bowel screening tests for approximately 250,000 people each year in Ireland. The programme is simple, and involves taking a test which is posted to a person's home, free of charge.
Once the person has taken the test, the sample is returned to BowelScreen by Freepost. The blood levels of the sample are examined and, if the result is not normal, the person is referred for a further bowel examination via a colonoscopy.
For this Bowel Cancer Awareness Month, BowelScreen and the HSE have encouraged men, especially, to engage with the programme — because, traditionally, the number of men screened has been lower than that of women.
"BowelScreen is urging everyone aged 60 to 69 to avail of its free home test,” said BowelScreen programme manager Hilary Coffey Farrell.
