A bowel cancer screening programme covering 130,000 people will be trialled in the Waitemata District Health Board (DHB) catchment, Health Minister Tony Ryall announced today.
The trial, costing $24 million over four years, will start next October and involve about 130,000 people aged from 50 to 74 who live in the DHB area being sent a screening test kit. They can complete the test at home and mail it to a selected laboratory for assessment.
Local GPs would tell patients about the pilot, encourage them to take part and support them through the process.
"International evidence shows that bowel screening can save lives through early detection and treatment," Mr Ryall said.
Bowel cancer screening programmes were running or being piloted in Australia, Britain, most countries in the European Union, Korea, Japan, Israel and Canada.
