Catch cancer early through test

RESIDENTS above the age of 40 are encouraged to take advantage of Rotary’s bowel screening kit during May to ‘Catch Cancer Before it Catches You’.

Harvey Rotary Club has been supporting the initiative to provide test kits at an affordable $15 in cooperation with Harvey Pharmacy as part of Rotary’s annual bowel scan program for many years.

Last year all 60 kits stocked at the pharmacy were sold and similar numbers are expected this month.

Harvey Rotary secretary Bill Russell said the kits were easy to follow, there were no dietary requirements before the test and residents could post it for pathology testing free of charge.

“If you can detect bowel cancer early by testing for tiny amounts of blood, the chances for a full recovery are very good,” Mr Russell said.

“Often people don’t have many symptoms and we did have a resident returning a positive test in the past and his cancer was picked up early.”

Mr Russell said kits were available at Harvey Pharmacy and other participating pharmacies until the end of May and needed to be posted back by mid-June.