Rotary’s lifesaving bowel cancer awareness initiative, BowelCare, has received a boost this year, with the introduction of Clinical Genomics’ faecal immunochemical tests being added to kits across the state.
The annual not-for-profit campaign, which started in 1990, begins on May 2 and runs through until June.
Windsor Rotarian Barry Gale co-ordinated this year’s program for Windsor-Richmond and Kurra-jong-North Richmond Rotary clubs.
He said the aim was to provide the community with an affordable annual bowel screening program available through pharmacies and he was pleased to be able to announce the addition of the new kit.
Mr Gale said that at its core, the program was about raising awareness among Australians aged 50 and over of the importance of screening for bowel cancer.
‘‘Clinical Genomics will also handle testing and reporting services, which takes a lot of the leg work out of an initiative that spans hundreds of pharmacies,’’ he said. ‘‘We can now focus on working with Australian community pharmacists to take this program to the next level.’’
Gastroenterologist Dr Howard Hope said the new kits boost a program which already plays a valuable role in detecting bowel cancer.
“Bowel cancer is Australia’s second biggest cancer killer,” Dr Hope said.
“The combined efforts of Rotary’s BowelCare and Bowelscan initiatives encourage around 150,000 Australians to test each year and detect a large number of bowel cancer cases that otherwise may not have been found early.
“The Clinical Genomics test will further improve these outcomes.’’
BowelCare kits will be sold for $15 each. They will be available in pharmacies from Saturday, May 2, to Saturday, June 27.
