Encouraging more people to take the test

If he hadn’t done the test, he wouldn’t be alive today and would have missed out on so many experiences with his family and friends.  

Australians aged 50 to 74 receive a free bowel screening kit in the mail every two years from the Australian government. Laurie received one when he turned 50 and tested negative. Two years later when he received the test again, he assumed there would be little change and was ready to discard it, until his wife, a nurse, encouraged him to take the test.   

This time Laurie’s test results were positive. His doctor organised a colonoscopy to investigate further.  

The colonoscopy found two small clumps of cells forming on the lining of the bowel wall, known as ‘polyps’. While most polyps are harmless, some can develop into cancer over time, if left undetected.  

Laurie’s doctor ordered a biopsy of the polyps, which confirmed the growths were cancerous.  

“All the wind was taken out of me; I wasn’t expecting it,” said Laurie who had no symptoms and felt fit and healthy.   

“I would have been dead by now if I hadn’t done the test, the cancer could have spread quickly based on where it was located and there would have been nothing the doctors could have done for me,” he said.  

Helen also counts herself lucky. As a deputy head at a primary school, she spent two years navigating the challenges of remote learning during the pandemic, putting off her bowel screening test when it arrived in the mail.  

“I had put the test kit on my desk, and it just sat there. When I realised it had expired, it put into perspective how long I had put off doing the test. I reordered another test kit straight away, which was easy and quick to do,” she said.    

After reordering the test kit, Helen did the bowel cancer screening test, and received a positive result.  After further tests, Helen was diagnosed with stage 2 bowel cancer. If left undetected, the cancer would have continued to spread through her body.    

“The free bowel cancer screening test saved my life, I didn’t have any symptoms and felt completely healthy,” she said.    

“We’ve seen participation in the program decline recently, with only 43.9 per cent of eligible Victorians returning their tests,” said Todd Harper.  

“In 2021, 1,281 Victorians died from bowel cancer, and over 3,713 people were diagnosed. If participation in bowel screening continues to decline, the number of deaths could increase due to diagnosis of bowel cancer at a later stage. However, over 90 per cent of bowel cancers can be successfully treated if they are found early,” Todd said.

To address these concerning figures and increase bowel screening participation, Cancer Council Victoria launched a lifesaving campaign featuring Laurie’s inspiring story.

Research shows multicultural audiences experience unique barriers to screening which result in low participation. Like all our campaigns, equity is key to achieving our goals and the team work closely with health professionals and community leaders who can amplify these messages among culturally diverse communities.  

 

Another initiative this year has been getting out on the road with our ‘Laurie van.’ The van toured across Melbourne visiting communities where we see low participation in bowel screening in people aged 50-54. While out and about our staff are actively encouraging people aged 50-74 make a pledge to do the test and/or encourage others to do so.