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Participation rates in the National Bow
For the most up to date information on COVID-19 please visit the Department of Health Website.
Learn more about how the AIHW is assisting the COVID-19 response and our broader work on communicable diseases.
Participation rates in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program were slightly lower than the previous year, despite the evidence that bowel cancer screening saves lives, according to a report released today by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).
The National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) aims to reduce the number of cases of bowel cancer and related deaths in Australia through screening to detect cancers and pre-cancerous lesions in their early stages, when treatment is most effective.
The report, National Bowel Cancer Screening Program monitoring report: 2012-13, shows that about 33.5% of the 964,000 people invited to participate from July 2012 to June 2013 returned a completed bowel cancer screening kit for analysis.
'The good news is that since the program started in 2006, over 3,000 suspected or confirmed cancers have been detected, showing its effectiveness in detecting and preventing bowel cancer,' said AIHW spokesperson Justin Harvey.
However, the report also shows that the participation rate in the program in 2012-13 was slightly lower than in the previous year, with small decreases seen in all three target age groups (people turning 50, 55 or 65 years).
'There were also differences in participation rates across jurisdictions, with invitees from South Australia, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and Western Australia participating at higher rates than those in other jurisdictions,' Mr Harvey said.
In 2012-13, about 23,500 participants (7.5%) who returned a valid screening test had a positive screening result. These people were encouraged to follow up this result by visiting their primary health-care practitioner for referral to furt