Bribie Rotary Supporting Bowel Scan
Rotarian Barry Clark, who managed the programme for Rotary, was able to give comparative statistcs for various areas of SE Queensland, in relation to Australia wide averages observed over many years.
Since its inception in the early 1980's over 550,000 kits have been purchased and tested.
It seems that about a quarter of all kits purchased are not actually returned to Chemist shops for collection and testing.
Bowel Cancer is the most common form of internal cancer in Australia, affecting about 1 in 20 people, with more than 11,000 new cases being detected each year. More than half of these cases result in death because it is not deteced early enough. Bowel cancer can take up to 10 years to develop, but if detected in its early stages there is a 90% chance of treatment and cure.
"These deaths from Bowel Cancer are more than twice the national road toll" Barry Clark said, and this is why it deserves greater visibility and awareness..
Everyone should do this simple and cost effective test every year, especially those over 50 years of age as risk increases dramatically after that.
It seems that more women than men are participating in the tests (53% v 47%) but the "postive" test results, incicating that further investigation or treatment is required, are much higher for men.(60% v 40%).
Based on Australia wide results, gathered over many years, it seems that a "positive" test result occurs in about 1.3% of those tested.
