Laurie counts himself as one of the lucky ones
If Laurie hadn’t taken the free bowel screening test, it’s likely he wouldn’t be alive today and would have missed out on so many experiences with his family and friends. Cancer screening saved his life, and many more can be saved through this simple test.
In 2022, bowel cancer was the cause of 1,307 Victorian deaths and over 3,504 people were diagnosed with the disease.
Over 90 per cent of bowel cancers can be successfully treated if they are found early, which is why the latest bowel screening campaign went to great lengths to encourage people to take the free bowel screening test when it arrives in the mail.
When Laurie, who had no symptoms and felt fit and healthy, took the test he was surprised when his test results were positive.
Laurie with his family and their pet dog
“I would have been dead by now if I hadn’t done the test, the cancer could have spread quickly based on where it was located and there would have been nothing the doctors could have done for me,” he said.
Participation in the free bowel screening program has been declining recently, with only 43.9 per cent of eligible Victorians (those aged between 50 to 74) taking the test. In response, we launched our new bowel screening campaign featuring Laurie’s story.
In the campaign Laurie shares his personal experience to encourage others to take the test.
“I don’t want anyone to lose their life to bowel cancer when it can be treated successfully if found early,” he said.
As part of the campaign, we also developed in-language messages and materials to encourage people in Vietnamese, Punjabi, and Hindi communities to participate in bowel screening.
Research shows multicultural audiences experience unique barriers to screening which result in low participation. Like all our campaigns, equity is key to achieving our goals and the team work closely with health professionals and community leaders who can amplify these messages among culturally diverse communities.
Another campaign initiative included getting out on the road with our ‘Laurie van.’ The van toured across Melbourne visiting communities where we see low participation in bowel screening. While out and about Cancer Council Victoria staff actively encouraged people aged 50-74 to make a pledge to do the test and/or encourage others to do so.
Research has shown that bowel screening campaigns, such as this one, have saved hundreds of lives and increased the rate of test kits returned to the National Cancer Screening program. It’s an important part of our goal to increase participation in cancer screening and early detection.
<back to Annual Review 2023