The age range for eligibility for BowelScreen, the national bowel-cancer free screening programme, is to be extended to men and women aged between 50 and 54.
The extension is part of a planned expansion, on a phased basis over the coming years, of the screening programme to include those aged between 50 and 74.
Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill said on Wednesday she had approved a recommendation from the National Screening Advisory Committee to extend the age range to include those aged between 50-54.
The recommendation was based on an assessment, completed by the Health Information and Quality Authority (Hiqa), that extending screening to the 50-54 age cohort would likely be clinically and cost-effective.
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The incidence rates for bowel (colorectal) cancer are increasing in those aged between 50 and 60, the Minister noted.
She said screening “provides an opportunity to detect cancer at an earlier stage, when it is easier to treat”, and she encouraged all those eligible to avail themselves of screening.
Hiqa deputy chief executive Máirín Ryan said there are “clear clinical benefits” to expanding the programme to those aged 50-54.
However, Hiqa had also highlighted existing capacity issues within the services required for bowel screening. This expansion would increase the population eligible for screening by 27 per cent and Hiqa had advised that it “must be done in a way that does not negatively impact the current screening programme or the wider symptomatic services”.
This would require a “phased approach” to implementation, and “significant forward planning and investment in staffing and training to ensure sufficient resources are in place,” said Ryan.
BowelScreen is a free at-home test that can find signs of cancer before symptoms appear, preventing its progression. Early detection usually leads to easier and more successful treatment.
BowelScreen is available to those aged between 57 and 71. Since October 2023, the eligible age range for the programme has been expanded four times, allowing an additional 293,000 people to access it.
The extension to those aged between 55 and 74 will be implemented over the coming years and planning for the expansion to 50-54-year-olds will begin this year.
