Cancer Council Applauds ALP Commitment To Screen 50-year-olds For Bowel Cancer - Australia

Main Category: Colorectal Cancer
Also Included In: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology;  Cancer / Oncology
Article Date: 11 Oct 2007 - 9:00 PDT

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The Cancer Council Australia has applauded Kevin Rudd.s commitment to extend bowel cancer screening to 50-year-olds as a first step towards screening all Australians aged 50 and over.

Chief Executive Officer Professor Ian Olver said The Cancer Council Australia was calling on all political parties to extend bowel cancer screening to all Australians aged 50 and over, as supported by scientific evidence and recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Bowel cancer claims more than 80 Australian lives each week and its impact will increase significantly as our population ages,. Professor Olver said.

Yet screening prevents more than a third of bowel cancer deaths among the screened population, so expediting the screening program and extending it to all Australians over 50 should be an election priority.

The Cancer Council Australia welcomed the Government.s introduction of bowel cancer screening in the 2005-06 Budget and has since called for the program to be expedited and extended to all Australian aged over 50, in accordance with the evidence.

Kevin Rudd and his Shadow Health Minister Nicola Roxon should be applauded for taking the initiative to commit to extending the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program to the appropriate age cohort through this first step announced today..

Professor Olver also welcomed Mr Rudd.s commitment to fund additional colonoscopy capacity and to establish a framework with the states and territories for the program.s ongoing implementation.

While detailed funding arrangements for bowel cancer screening are a matter for government, the Commonwealth should have a lead role in building capacity for what is essentially a national program,. he said.

Commonwealth leadership and a cooperative approach with the states and territories, which will have to conduct a significant proportion of the colonoscopies generated by the program, will be key to its effectiveness..

Professor Olver said the screening program would ultimately save money as well as lives, with fewer people referred for high-cost treatment related to late diagnosis and a reduction in the number of colonoscopies used as a screening tool

http://www.cancer.org.au

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