Published on: 7 March 2023
The national campaign aims to increase the uptake of the home testing kit to ensure more people are diagnosed with bowel cancer as early as possible. When bowel cancer is caught early, people are nine times more likely to survive.
NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire is supporting the new ‘Help Us Help You’ Bowel cancer campaign, which runs for the month of March and is encouraging people who have been sent an NHS bowel cancer screening kit to complete the test.
The test is simple to complete and can be done in the privacy of your own bathroom. Anyone aged 60 to 74, who lives in England and is registered with a GP practice will be sent a test in the post automatically, every two years. NHS England is also extending this to include all 50 to 59 year-olds by 2025.
So, the NHS is asking anyone who is sent a bowel cancer screening test to remember to complete it. Put it by the loo. Don’t put it off. Your next poo could save your life.
Dr Will Taylor, Medical Director for NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire said: “Screening is one of the best ways to diagnose bowel cancer early, or in some cases prevent it from developing in the first place.
“The FIT kit offers eligible people a chance to quickly and safely complete a test for bowel cancer at home and ensure that more cases are detected earlier.
“I would urge everyone who is sent a kit to return their test as quickly as they can, because this can detect the early signs of bowel cancer and ensure that anyone affected can get treatment for the disease as soon as possible.”
Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, and more than 16,500 people die from it – more than 5 per day. The chances of surviving bowel cancer are much higher when it is found early.
Learn more about Bowel cancer testing on the NHS website here: Bowel cancer - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
