By Kim Chisnall
It's do it yourself bowel cancer detection; you take a sample at home, post it to a lab in Australia, and your GP is contacted with the results.
“I think most New Zealanders wouldn't realise that bowel cancer is killing more New Zealanders than breast cancer and bowel cancer combined. That's the shocking stat and we need that to change,” says Sarah Derrett of Beat Bowel Cancer Aotearoa.
Every year bowel cancer kills over 1200 New Zealanders.
Beat Bowel Cancer Aotearoa say the test, costing $60 at a chemist, is their solution to the lack of a national screening programme.
But the Ministry of Health says tests done without a doctor are dangerous.
“I'm very concerned that someone will take the test and be falsely reassured if the results are negative,” says the ministry’s Sarah Parry.
There is also the potential for what's known as false positive tests - the test reacts to blood - this can be a sign of bowel cancer, but can also be a sign of many other illnesses.
Denise Robbins was diagnosed with bowel cancer 15 years ago, she says the test could result in people wrongly thinking they had cancer.
“I would hate to see fear raised unnecessarily and too early,” she says.
Ms Robbins says there's already a waiting list to get a colonoscopy, the follow up test for bowel cancer, and an influx of people home testing could make this worse.
“Believe me, there is nothing worse than suspecting you have a problem and being unable to have it tested,” she says.
The Ministry of Health are launching a screening pilot in Auckland this year, and if successful it will be rolled out nationally - until then, their advice is to go straight to your doctor and skip the chemist.
3 News