Don’t get scared, get scanned

By Kath Gannaway
STATISTICS can be boring. When it comes to bowel cancer, they can also be scary.
Last year two people of the 128 people tested as part of the Rotary’s Bowelscan program in the Yarra Valley tested positive.
The scary part is that 237 kits were sold. Extrapolate that out and, statistically, there are two more people out there who could have returned a positive read.
Another statistic. Every year in Australia there are going to be 12,000 new cases of bowel cancer and 5000 deaths.
More statistics. Bowel cancer claims more lives in Australia than road accidents or breast cancer. Early detection gives a 90 per cent chance of being cured.
This year people like Healesville Rotary’s Dr Ian Tinney and Graeme Chester and Healesville pharmacist George Kakafikas are imploring people to go the distance.
Whether it’s apathy, forgetfulness or the fact that the test is not something you’d want to talk about over the dinner table, the bottom line is, it could be a life or death indecision.
“We recommend to all men and women over 40, for their family’s sake, beat bowel cancer by early detection,” Mr Chester said.
The program operates during May and kits are available from pharmacies at Healesville, Seville, Wandin, Woori Yallock, Yarra Glen, Yarra Junction and Warburton.
All that is required is to purchase a Bowelscan kit for $6 from a chemist and follow the instructions.
The most important instruction is “return to pharmacy as soon as possible”. The pathology test detects microscopic bleeding from the bowel.
Healesville, Wandin and Upper Yarra Rotary clubs are managing the Yarra Valley program which provides for the kits to be analysed at a massively subsidised cost. Positive results will be advised immediately, negative by early July.
Moving from statistics to investment advice – $6 is the cost of two (cheap) lattes, 1.5 glasses of beer or one glass of wine.
Bowelscan is a good investment even if the only dividend turns out to be peace of mind.