The HSE has extended the eligible age range for BowelScreen to include 70-year-olds, meaning that free bowel screening is now available to all adults aged 59-70. The expansion came into effect on April 1, marking the start of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month.
BowelScreen Programme Manager Hilary Coffey said: “We’re pleased to make BowelScreen available to people aged 70 as we work to offer bowel screening to more people… We know that 90 per cent of people in the age range who take one BowelScreen test will go on to complete future tests two years later when they’re invited, reducing their overall chance of developing bowel cancer.”
Prof Padraic MacMathuna, Clinical Director of BowelScreen, added that around 3 per cent of people who use the BowelScreen service are referred for a follow-up colonoscopy. He also emphasised that cancers detected through the screeningserviceare “usually discovered at an earlier stage, before symptoms have started, and when treatment is less invasive and more likely to be successful”.
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