May is Bowelscan month and the Rotary Club of Collie is providing the test kits that could potentially save your life.
Rotary runs Bowelscan in May every year, to help West Australians get in to the habit of repeating of repeating the test annually.
Rotary Collie member Barbara Jones is running the service for the sixth year in a row and said bowel Cancer is very curable if you catch it early.
“This is a very important program and last year 187 people in Collie took the test.”
Bowel Cancer is Australia’s number one internal cancer, killing more than four thousand men and women every year, and the simple test kits are one way you can detect the killer disease early.
Every two hours in Australia someone dies from bowel cancer, and the risk of developing bowel cancer jumps significantly from age 40, and doubles every five years until age 60 when the risk increases even faster.
The test is recommended for anyone over 40 and is available for purchase from the Collie Red Cross shop or Mick Murrays Office from May 1 to May 31.
Ms Jones emphasised that there is no special diet required prior to taking the test, as there has been in previous years.
Once the test is complete, and handed back at the place of purchase, it is sent off to Western Diagnostic Pathology who provide the lab test for free.
Bowelscan’s Medical Coordinator will notify you of the result, or notify your GP if the test comes back positive.
The test is for everyone, not just those who may be showing signs of bowel cancer.
The kits cost twelve dollars each and are a community service project not a fundraising project by Rotary Club.
