Cancer screening initiative extended

A SCREENING programme to detect one of the most common types of cancer in Britain, which claims thousands of lives every year, is being extended across North Yorkshire.
By The Newsroom
Published 18th Mar 2010, 12:25 BST
Updated 18th Mar 2010, 12:25 BST

The bowel cancer screening initiative is being rolled out to cover Selby and York to ensure the scheme is available across the whole of the county.

The programme is aimed at detecting the condition at an early stage by offering to screen everyone between 60 and 69.

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About one in 20 people in the UK will develop bowel cancer during their lifetime. It is the second leading cause of cancer deaths and claims more than 16,000 lives each year.

However, regular screening has been shown nationally to reduce the risk of dying from bowel cancer by 16 per cent.

Over the next two years, all men and women who are eligible for screening will receive information explaining the programme and a letter inviting them to take part.

A test kit will be sent out along with step-by-step instructions for completing it at home and sending the samples to the laboratory.

More information is available at www.cancerscreening.nhs.uk or calling the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme's freephone helpline on 0800 707 6060.

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