The Department of Health has teamed up with Cancer Council and the National Rugby League (NRL) to encourage Australians to participate in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program.
Backing the initiative, Minister for Health, Mark Butler said that with NRL playing State of Origin games, Australians were being encouraged to take a half-time toilet break during the 2022 series and do a test to help save lives from bowel cancer.
Mr Butler (pictured right) said the partnership would help the Department to reach people who screened at lower rates, including men in regional and remote areas.
“In the spirit of healthy competition, the latest statistics show while Queensland scored an early victory over its NSW neighbours by returning more bowel screening tests (QLD 41.6 per cent vs. NSW 40.5 per cent), both States trail behind the national participation rate of 43.5 per cent,” Mr Butler said.
“If we can increase screening participation rates and help to detect bowel cancer early, we can save lives,” he said.
“We know if participation reaches 60 per cent, 84,000 lives could be saved by 2040 – that’s around as many people as will be in Accor Stadium on Wednesday night.”
Mr Butler said the Department of Health screening program provided people aged 50-74 years with free bowel screening tests every two years.
The Minister said that during 2018-19, participation was higher among women (45.6 per cent) than men (41.3 per cent).
“Residents in South Australia and Tasmania had the highest participation rate of all States and Territories at 48.9 per cent, while people in the Northern Territory recorded the lowest participation rate at 30.6 per cent,” he said.
