A provincewide screening program aimed at detecting colorectal cancers earlier and boosting the number of 50-to-74-year-olds being tested will begin next spring.
It???s expected the program, which includes reminder letters and awareness campaigns, will increase the number of those over age 50 getting tested to at least 70 per cent.
At present, only about one-third of B.C. residents in the 50-to-74 age range are tested.
The B.C. government has been under pressure for several years from the BC Cancer Agency, patient advocacy organizations and the NDP to implement a publicly funded program like those in other provinces.
A three-year pilot project called Colon Check showed the value of an organized screening program like those for breast and cervical cancers. Forty-five cancers and hundreds of pre-cancerous polyps were found in the 15,000 people screened.
A University of B.C. study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal in 2010 also showed that a screening program would drastically lower incidence and death rates.
That study found that for every 100,000 individuals over the age of 50 who are screened, the costs of finding, diagnosing and treating any problems revealed by the tests amount to about $70 million. There are 1.345 million people in B.C. between the ages of 50 and 74.
Health Minister Margaret MacDiarmid, who announced the program at a press conference Monday, said the government doesn???t know what the program will cost because it???s not known how many people will take advantage of the free testing for signs of blood in the stool.
???Hopefully, it will cost a lot,??? she said, indicating she hopes more people will get screened.
MacDiarmid, a former family doctor herself, said she???s an ???unwilling cancer customer,??? having survived breast cancer. But as such, she knows the benefits of screening to detect cancer earlier when it???s easier to treat.
The government???s Medical Services Plan branch already spends more than $30 million a year on colorectal cancer diagnostic exams, including fecal sample tests, colonoscopies, sigmoidoscopies and barium studies. That is likely to jump substantially in an organized program because family doctors will also be recommending testing to patients with no symptoms or risk factors.
Besides the $30 cost of the stool test, there will also be BC Cancer Agency costs for managing and coordinating the program, plus treatment of what???s anticipated to be more cases of cancer being picked up. The cost of treating colorectal cancer ??? which includes pathology and other lab tests, surgery, doctor
Article source: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/metro/announces+provincewide+cancer+screening+program/7500750/story.html
Source: http://www.recentnews.ca/b-c-announces-provincewide-colorectal-cancer-screening-program/
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