April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month

Screening can save lives but at the moment in some areas of the UK only a third of those who receive a test complete it. Thousands of people are missing out on the chance to detect bowel cancer early when it is easier to treat. Screening will help stop people dying from bowel cancer.

• If you are over 60 (or over 50 in Scotland), take the test when you receive it in the post.
• If you are younger, tell the people over 60 (or over 50 in Scotland) in your life, to take the test.

Screening can detect bowel cancer at an early stage in people with no symptoms, when it is easier to treat. Sometimes it can prevent bowel cancer from developing in the first place by picking up non-cancerous growths (polyps) which could become cancerous in the future.

Bowel cancer is treatable and curable especially if diagnosed early. Nearly everyone diagnosed at the earliest stage will survive bowel cancer. However, this drops significantly as the disease develops. Taking part in bowel cancer screening is the best way to get diagnosed early.

"I consider myself very lucky. Completing the screening test was the best decision I have ever made. There is no doubt in my mind that if I hadn't, I would not be alive today. Anyone reading this, who is eligible to participate in the screening programme, should not think twice about it. Just do it." Joy from Oxfordshire