Extending bowel cancer screening to over 50s would reduce deaths but cost up to €66m, Hiqa says

'Bowel cancer is more common in older age groups, but screening from the age of 50 is likely to be effective in terms of reducing deaths from colorectal cancer,' Hiqa’s deputy chief executive Dr Máirín Ryan said. File picture

Extending bowel cancer screening to over-50s would likely reduce cancer deaths but needs “significant investment” of up to €66m to introduce, Ireland's health watchdog has said.

The Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa) said services were already under pressure to meet existing demands, but the evidence showed a “good chance” that screening from the age of 50 would be a “good use of resources”.