The bowel screening age for Māori and Pasifika people will finally be lowered from 60 to 50 years old next year – a move that Bowel Cancer New Zealand says is going to save lives.
Bowel cancer is the second-highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand, with more than 1000 New Zealanders dying from it every year and over 3000 diagnosed. A higher proportion of the disease occurs in Māori and Pasifika before they reach 60, at around 21 percent compared to 10 percent for non-Māori.
Bowel Cancer NZ medical advisor and senior Māori health researcher Professor Sue Crengle says the change has been a long time coming.
“Bowel Cancer NZ and many Māori advocates from around the motu were talking about the problem with the age range for a long time," she says.
"It took a little while for the national screening unit to be convinced about the issue. With any kind of governmental process it takes a while for the policy work to be done."
“[It’s] a complex number of reasons but it’s fantastic to be in a position now where we’re going to get the extension of the age range that we need.”
The lowering of the age will mean another 60,000 people screened.
“The screening programme as it is at the moment means non-Māori and non-Pasifika people benefit more, so the inequities that there are in bowel cancer survival will get bigger because more non-Māori and non-Pasifika people will have successful treatment of their bowel cancer.
“Extending the age range is really transformational because it means we will have the same opportunity to benefit from that programme as non-Māori and non-Pasifika."