Did you know 1 in 3 people do not return their bowel cancer screening kits?

If you’re sent a bowel cancer screening kit, put it by the loo. Don’t put it off.

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, and detecting it at the earliest stage makes you up to nine times more likely to be successfully treated.

The NHS bowel cancer screening test is simple to complete and can be done in the privacy of your own home.

• The test detects blood in the poo from one sample.
• Blood in the poo can be from many things including piles, polyps or sometimes cancer
• Removing polyps in their early stages can prevent bowel cancer.

Anyone aged 60 to 74 who lives in England and is registered with a GP practice will be sent a test in the post automatically, every two years. The programme is also extending to include all 50 to 59 year olds by 2025.

If you’ve been sent a free bowel cancer screening test kit, take the test, and return it. Finding bowel cancer at its earliest stage means it’s treatable and beatable.

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