Tea and Topics on bowel screening at Gonville library

Judy McIntyre

Gonville Library is proud to present the next Tea and Topics talk with Judy McIntyre, the bowel screening coordinator with Whanganui District Health Board.

Free screening is now available in Whanganui and an important step forward in the early detection and treatment of bowel cancer.

Judy will explain the importance of the test, what the test involves and how easy it is to do from the privacy of your own home.

The National Bowel Screening Programme is a free programme to help detect bowel cancer.

It is being offered every two years to people aged 60 to 74 years old who are eligible for publicly funded healthcare.

The introduction of a national bowel screening programme in New Zealand followed a successful 6-year pilot.

It's being rolled out gradually across the country.

This staged approach is designed to enable district health boards (DHBs) to prepare for the extra investigations and treatments that flow from a screening programme.

It's also to ensure that treatment for patients with symptoms is not held up because of the extra demands from screening.

Tea and Topics will have its usual format, with a hot drink and a biscuit being served between 10am and 10.30am.

The presentation will start at 10.30am tomorrow and there will be ample opportunity afterwards to ask questions, raise concerns or share stories.