16 June 2022
Together with the Sydney Swans, we are urging Australians to take the time to take a simple, free, life-saving bowel cancer screening test when it arrives in the mail.
Often, it’s only one or two degrees of separation between us and someone we know or love who has been impacted by bowel cancer.
Bowel cancer is the second biggest cancer killer in Australia, behind lung cancer, but it doesn’t have to be.
If caught early, around 90% of bowel cancers can be successfully treated or even prevented. Screening is the most effective tool for early detection and medical guidelines recommend screening from the age of 50 and every following two years up to the age of 74.
When you turn 50, you will receive a screening kit in the mail as part of the Australian Government’s National Bowel Cancer Screening Program. The program aims to reduce deaths from bowel cancer by detecting traces of blood in bowel movements – one of the early signs of the disease.
Our plea for Australians to take the test is so very important, because currently only 43.5% of Australians who are sent the test actually complete it.
It is hoped that this campaign will convince more Australians to take the test when they receive it in the mail. It may just save their life.
If you are under 50 or aged 75 and over, and would like to take a bowel screening test, you can purchase one online for $42.00 here.
We are grateful to the Sydney Swans for their support in helping us amplify the important message surrounding early detection through this free test supplied by the Australian Government.
Take the time.
Take the test.
It might just save your life.