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Residents from the wider Mahurangi area are getting a pat on the back from the Waitemata District Health Board’s BowelScreening team, with well over half of all eligible residents doing the test.
Almost 60 per cent of eligible people from the Mahurangi Matters readership area have returned a completed test kit. Of these, 494 people tested positive and were referred for a colonoscopy. A total of 29 people in the area found out they had bowel cancer through taking part in the bowel screening pilot.
BowelScreening Programme manager Gaye Tozer says the participation figure is pleasing, but she is urging others to take the opportunity to do the test, too.
“Bowel cancer is the second most common cancer in New Zealand and the second highest cause of cancer death,” she says.
The Government has extended the bowel screening pilot until the end of 2017 and the results will help decide whether a national programme will be rolled out. People aged between 50 and 74 living in the Waitemata DHB area will receive a third test kit through the mail when it’s their turn to participate.
“We are encouraging people living in the wider Mahurangi area to do the third test, as regular bowel screening can help find early signs of cancer. No screening test is 100 per cent accurate, which is why it is important to do the test every two years while the pilot is running, even if your previous results have been normal.”
More than 6000 people have received a colonoscopy through the BowelScreening pilot so far and 255 people have been found to have bowel cancer as a result of taking part.
“The exciting thing is nearly 70 per cent of these cancers have been found at an early stage when treatment can be more successful. Also, 4057 people have had polyps removed which may have developed into cancer over time, so the bowel screening test is preventing cancer as well as finding it.”
Info: 0800 924 432 or visit bowelscreeningwaitemata.co.nz
See your doctor if you have any bowel symptoms that concern you even if your screening test was clear.
