Tauranga woman Rachael Ferguson was 32 when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer in December 2020. Photo / Andrew Warner
A Tauranga bowel cancer survivor says it is upsetting that almost half of Bay of Plenty screening kits go unreturned, calling it “wasted resources”.
Rachael Ferguson was 32 when she was diagnosed with Stage 4 bowel cancer in December 2020. She has been “clear” since having surgery in February 2021.
Ferguson – who has advocated for the screening age to be lowered from 60 to 35 – is encouraging people to learn the symptoms of bowel cancer and use their screening kits.
It comes as new data, obtained from Health NZ under the Official Information Act, shows 71,825 screening kits were sent to eligible Bay of Plenty residents between January 1, 2023, and May 26, 2025.
Just over half – 54.7% – have been returned.
When broken down by ethnicity, fewer than half of the kits sent to Māori, Pasifika and Asian people have been returned – 41.9%, 41.8% and 33.1%.
Ferguson said she got upset hearing these statistics because there were “so many people under the age of 60 that are screaming out to have those kits”.
“They know they have something wrong and they’re just not being heard so therefore they’re not getting screened because doctors are either saying ‘you’re too young’ or ‘it’s something else’.
“That’s wasted resources.”
She said the scary thing with bowel cancer was someone could have it and have no symptoms.
This was the case with Tauranga man Paul Blears, who said it was “a hell of a shock” being diagnosed with bowel cancer after he used his screening kit.
“By doing that test, you are catching things early … which will avoid late-stage diagnosis,” Ferguson said.
The National Bowel Screening Programme was introduced in the Health NZ Bay of Plenty region in May 2022. It was the last of the former 20 district health boards to introduce it after the programme started in July 2017.
People are invited to join the programme at age 60 then sent a free home test kit every two years until age 74.
The Government is gradually lowering the eligibility age to 58, to be in effect nationwide by March.
The Health NZ data showed 103 cancers were detected between January 1, 2023, and May 26, 2025, and 78 surgeries were carried out to remove bowel cancer.
Health NZ noted this may include people who had surgery who did not have their cancer detected via a screening kit, and that some patients may have had surgery in another district, or privately.
Patients who chose chemotherapy treatment would not be recorded in surgery numbers, and others newly diagnosed may be waiting for surgery.
Almost five years since her diagnosis, Ferguson said her scans and blood test results were “great”.
“I feel great, which is the main thing,” said Ferguson, now aged 37.
She gave birth to her son George in September 2022.
“He was such a good baby … he’s really come into his own kind of personality now.”
Ferguson said she had recently completed a reformer Pilates instructor course and would soon start teaching.
She had also been doing paid partnerships on social media.
With a background in early childhood education, she had done some relief teaching.
“After the diagnosis and also becoming a mum myself, I just felt like I was ready to leave that side of things.
“It’s just been trying to find something else.”
Bowel cancer is the second-highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand, killing about three Kiwis every day. One in 10 Kiwis diagnosed are under 50.
New research by Bowel Cancer New Zealand showed one in four adults were unable to name a single symptom of bowel cancer, which Ferguson said was “pretty concerning”.
Bowel Cancer New Zealand chief executive Peter Huskinson said symptom awareness was the “strongest line of defence”, with screening currently limited to those aged 58 and older.
“Acting early, before symptoms become severe, can mean the difference between a treatable diagnosis at the GP and a late-stage emergency presentation.
“That free test in your mailbox doesn’t just detect cancer – it can stop it before it starts,” he said.
“Don’t leave it in a drawer. Put it by the loo and get it done.”
Source: Bowel Cancer NZ
Megan Wilson is a health and general news reporter for the Bay of Plenty Times and Rotorua Daily Post. She has been a journalist since 2021.