Kits can save lives: About 80 Australians die each week from bowel cancer. Photo: Andrew De La Rue
Only a third of Australians who were sent a bowel cancer screening kit returned a sample for testing, despite the disease being the second greatest cause of cancer-related deaths.
The federal government sends a free kit to eligible Australians aged 50, 55, 60 and 65, but figures released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare on Monday showed only 33.5 per cent of these people sent back a faecal sample for laboratory analysis last financial year.
Of those who returned a sample, 7.5 per cent required a follow up visit with a medical practitioner.
“If detected early it’s one of the most treatable cancers”: Peter Dutton. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen
One in ten Australian men and one in 15 women will be diagnosed with bowel cancer by the age of 85, and the risk increases sharply from the age of 45. Almost 4000 Australians died from bowel cancer in 2012, making it the second most common cause of cancer-related death after lung cancer.