New screening programme unveiled at Whiteabbey

Bowel cancer kills over 400 people in Northern Ireland each year, and there are 1,000 new cases annually. After lung cancer, it is the second most common cancer in Northern Ireland.

Launching the programme at Whiteabbey Hospital, the Minister said: “The Bowel Cancer Screening Programme can detect signs of bowel cancer at a very early stage, when there is a 90% chance that treatment will be successful. This programme has the potential to reduce deaths from bowel cancer by 15%, which would mean 60 fewer deaths in Northern Ireland each year.”

The programme will initially offer bowel screening to men and women aged 60 to 69. Four out of five people who develop bowel cancer are over 60.

The Minister hailed the programme as a milestone for healthcare in Northern Ireland.

“This is the first new cancer screening programme in Northern Ireland in 20 years, and it is the first cancer screening programme to include men,” he said.

Referring to the budget negotiations between Executive Ministers, the Minister went on to say: “This programme will save many lives, but we can do more. My aim is to save more people’s lives by offering bowel cancer screening to everyone aged 50 to 74. The health service needs appropriate funding and resources to do that.”

The new bowel screening programme will be phased in, beginning immediately with people in the Northern and Western Trust areas.

Over the next two years everyone in Northern Ireland aged between 60 and 69 will be invited for screening, and after that will be offered screening every two years.

So far in Northern Ireland, three bowel cancer screening colonoscopy centres have achieved the necessary accreditation - at Whiteabbey, Altnagelvin and Downe Hospitals.