Five months after joining the national bowel screening programme, the Canterbury health board has no plans to provide enough space for all colonoscopies.
Tuesday, 13 April 2021, 12:52 pm
Twenty people have had cancers confirmed and many others
have had pre-cancerous lesions removed since the National
Bowel Screening Programme started in Canterbury.
Kits
started being delivered in volume in December last year, and
by the end of March 16,705 kits had been sent to people aged
60 – 74 who had recent birthdays. The programme had its
official launch this morning in the foyer of the new Waipapa
building.
The faecal immunochemical test (FIT) is easy
and simple to do in the privacy of your own home. It can
detect tiny traces of blood present in a small sample of
Canterbury health workers celebrated the launch of the national bowel screening programme in the region at Christchurch s Waipapa Hospital on Tuesday to raise awareness of the free service. Chalmers-Watson said just under 60 per cent of people offered the test had accepted it. The international target for screening participation was 60 per cent. “Through screening, we’re detecting people [with cancer] who had no symptoms – so the programme is already saving lives.”
JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/Stuff
Dr Teresa Chalmers-Watson, Canterbury DHB clinical lead, celebrates the launch of the Canterbury national bowel screening programme at Waipapa on Tuesday. Ōtautahi Māori health group Manawhenua Ki Waitaha representative Wendy Dallas-Katoa said the age of participation for Māori should have been lowered to 50 as there was clear evidence Māori were more likely to be diagnosed at a late stage and die from the disease.