Bowel screening message shared in Central

The Central Otago District Council is getting in behind the National Bowel Screening Programme, with more than 70 of its staff taking part in a recent information session on-site.

One of them was Senior Building Control Officer, Kevin O’Connor, who has already taken part in the screening programme and encourages his colleagues and others to do so as well.

“These things can be easy to put off, but I took part as soon as I received my kit in the post. The process was very simple and straightforward,” he says.

Mr O’Connor was happy to receive his favourable results promptly. “It was reassuring to have the confirmation that everything was fine,” he says.

And, he’s particularly pleased that the Programme team will contact him for further testing every two years until he is 74. “It’s a proactive programme, which makes it easy to take part.”

The Southern DHB’s National Bowel Screening Programme is for local residents aged 60-74 who are eligible for publicly-funded health care. It provides free testing kits that support early diagnosis and intervention, and are quick, easy and clean to use.

Mr O’Connor says he was well aware of the programme before receiving his invitation to participate in the mail.

“There’s great visibility around the programme – here at the Council, there are posters up all around the place,” he notes.

According to the Ministry of Health, people diagnosed with early stage bowel cancer who receive prompt treatment have a 90% chance of long-term survival.

The Southern DHB programme has been operating since April 2018, and has a participation rate of 73%.

Kevin O’Connor has some advice for the remaining 27% who are yet to take part: “Go ahead and do it for your own peace of mind.”