Bowel cancer is an insidious
disease, with 9,000 new cases afflicting men and women around Australia each
year. 4,500 of these people will die of the disease.
To give an
early warning of the possible presence of bowel cancer, Rotary started its
Bowelscan program in 1982. Each year, over 150,000 kits are distributed
to pharmacists around Australia where they can be purchased for $8.00, this
charge reflecting the cost of producing the kit and the subsequent sample
analysis.
Kits are now available at several pharmacists in Busselton,
Dunsborough and Capel at the following pharmacies:
* Terry White
Pharmacy, Busselton
* Discount Drugstores, Busselton
* Dunsborough
Pharmacy
* Capel Pharmacy
Members of the public are encouraged to
purchase a kit, provide a sample in the privacy of their own home and return
it to a participating chemist. The sample will then be sent to a
testing laboratory to analyse for the presence of blood, a possible indicator
of bowel disease.
To date, more than 1,000 people with cancer have used
the Bowelscan kits to give them early advice of their cancers. Another
5,000 people with bowel polyps - a common precursor to cancer - have been
diagnosed as a result of submitting a Bowelscan sample.
Bowel cancer is
the commonest internal cancer affecting Australian adults.
People with
a family history of bowel cancer are at particular risk of contracting the
disease and are the group most strongly encouraged to provide a Bowelscan
sample.
The Busselton Geographe Bay Rotary Club is coordinating the
distribution and collection of Bowelscan kits to pharmacists throughout the
City of Busselton and the Shire of Capel.
More information can be
gained from Rotarian David Eyres, a now retired local pharmacist - phone 0407
697 717.
Bernie Masters
Publicity Officer
Rotary Club of
Busselton Geographe Bay
9727 2474
0408 944 242
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