By GEORGIA WESTGARTH
FREE preventative bowel cancer screens sent out to homes in Casey are not being used.
A recent study by the Cancer Council Victoria found 32 per cent of eligible Casey residents took the bowl screen, pinning Casey among the lowest-screeners in Victoria.
Statistics for the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program found Casey along with Frankston, Hume, Melton and Melbourne to have the lowest rate of participation.
Cancer Council Victoria Chief Executive, Todd Harper, said the low numbers in Casey are concerning- “particularly given bowel cancer is the second-biggest cancer killer of Victorians.”
“Many people are literally throwing these free, non-intrusive and effective bowel screening kits in the ‘too hard basket’,” Mr Harper said.
The faecal occult blood test (FOBT) kit mailed to residents aged 50 to 65 has been tested to pick up 83 per cent of bowel cancer cases in the first round of screening.
Mr Harper said with nine in 10 bowel cancers successfully treated with early detection Melburnians are putting themselves at risk.
The at-home test kits are recommended to be taken every two years.
For more information on the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program call their hotline on 1800 118 868.
