It is Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month and given that this form of cancer is the third most common worldwide, Monaco is using ‘Blue March’ to encourage residents aged over 50 to take full advantage of its easy-to-use free screening programme.
There are many reasons why people put off getting checked. For some, it is embarrassment, others simply don’t think that they are at risk, while more still fear that screening will be painful at worst and uncomfortable at best.
Yet colorectal cancer is the third most common form of the disease worldwide. Almost 50,000 new cases are reported in France each year and colon cancer causes the second highest number of cancer-related deaths in men and the third highest in women on an annual basis in Monaco’s closest neighbour. The average age of sufferers is 71 for men and 72 for women.
As part of Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month this March, Monaco has launched a fresh campaign to encourage all residents of the Principality who are aged 50 to 80 and who are insured by its healthcare service to make use of the free screening services on offer here.
EASY TO USE
The public is encouraged to pick up an at-home testing kit from the CHPG. The kits allow a person to produce a sample in their own time. The sample is then placed in a pre-addressed and pre-stamped envelope to be posted to the CHPG labs, where it is checked for cancerous lesions free of charge.
Results get sent to the patient, as well as to their personal doctor, within the following week. If the test is negative, there is no need to do anything for two more years. If it is positive, the person’s physician will be directly informed by the Screening Centre and further tests will be arranged on behalf of the patient.
To show solidarity for the cause and for those suffering with or touched by the disease, the Prince’s Palace will be lit up in blue on 1st March.
For more information, contact the Screening Centre on +377 97 98 83 02.
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Photo source: CHPG