April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and we’re joining organisations across the country to raise awareness of bowel cancer, the fourth most common cancer in the UK.
The NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme is available to everyone aged 56 to 74, and is expanding the include all over 50s, while those aged 75 and over can request a kit by phoning the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening helpline on 0800 707 60 60.
National uptake of the screening – which you can do yourself in the privacy of your home - is now almost 68% and this ‘at home’ screening is offered to those eligible every two years.
In the UK one person dies from bowel cancer every 30 minutes. Nine out of every 5,000 people who use their test kit turn out to have cancer, but if it’s spotted early, the chances of recovering from bowel cancer are higher.
So, if you’re aged 56 to 74, keep an eye out for your bowel cancer testing kit in the post, or dig out the one that you put away in that drawer and forgot about. And then put it by the loo. Don’t put it off.
Find out more about bowel cancer screening at www.nhs.uk/bowel
