The news that more than 1000 New Zealanders have had bowel cancer detected by the National Bowel Screening Programme (NBSP) in the four years it has been running has been welcomed by Counties Manukau Health (CM Health).
In a significant number of cases, cancers have been detected early enough to be highly treatable.
New Zealand records 100 deaths a month from bowel cancer, the country’s second most common cancer, and the NBSP is starting to reduce that toll.
Our bowel screening champions are an awesome group of people who are passionate about supporting this important kaupapa and you can click on the links below to watch them share their stories:
- Rasela Filipo
- Te Kaanga Skipper and Dr Jaclyn Aramoana
- Dr Habib Rahman
- Olivia Jennings and Ros Tuitama
- Dr Derek Lou - English
- Dr Derek Lou - Mandarin
- Dr Derek Lou - Cantonese
- Pamona Samupo
The programme is targeted at people aged 60 to 74, who are most at risk from bowel cancer, and is now offered by 17 of the 20 district health boards, including CM Health with the remainder expected to join by the end of this year.
Participants receive a home test kit in the mail, which is designed to detect minute traces of blood that can indicate the presence of bowel cancer. Those who have a positive test are then offered a colonoscopy.
The National Bowel Screening Programme is New Zealand’s newest cancer screening programme and the first for both men and women. Once fully implemented, more than 700,000 people aged between 60 and 74 years will be invited to take part in the National Bowel Screening Programme every two years.
All procedures under the NBSP are free. More about the programme can be found here.