Cancer Council Victoria is asking GPs and health professionals to throw their support behind a bowel cancer screening campaign, ‘Spending more time at home? Now’s the perfect time to do the test – it could save your life’.
The campaign airs across TV, radio and digital channels in Victoria and targets people aged 50-74, with an emphasis on men aged 50-59, to encourage them to take part in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.
While bowel screening is important for all people aged 50-74, this campaign is tailored for Victorian men in their 50s. Only 33 per cent of men aged 50-54 and only 38 per cent of men aged 55-59 took part in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program in 2017-2018.
Evidence shows that a recommendation from a GP or health professional encourages people to take part in bowel screening. Talk to your patients about the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, it could save their life.
Bowel cancer is our second biggest cancer killer, taking around 100 Australian lives each week. Yet, if more people completed the at-home bowel screening test every two years, many of these lives could be saved.
Cancer Council research has shown that if screening participation can be increased to just 6 in 10 people, around 84,000 Australian lives could be saved in the next twenty years.
For more information for health professionals, visit: bowelcancer.org.au/health-professionals
Disclaimer: This article was provided by Cancer Council Victoria. While every effort has been made to ensure the information is accurate, North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network does not warrant or represent the accuracy, currency and completeness of any information or material included within.
