IT’S time to talk about bowel cancer say campaigners who are pushing to raise “worryingly low” screening levels in West Cumbria.

Cumbria County Council is working in partnership with Cumbria Clinical Commissioning Group and Cancer Research UK to appeal to West Cumbrian men who may be at risk of bowel cancer.

The risk of bowel cancer increases with age, with over 80% of bowel cancers arising in people who are 60 or over.

This latest campaign hopes to increase screening participation by men over the age of 60 living in West Cumbria where uptake is at a worrying low.

Bowel cancer screening is important, as it can detect bowel cancer at an early stage in people with no symptoms, when treatment is likely to be more effective.

In some areas of West Cumbria only 52 per cent of men aged 60-69 are taking part in screening compared with the 58 per cent national average.

If it’s detected at an early stage, before symptoms appear, it’s easier to treat and there’s a better chance of survival. Men and women aged between 60 and 74 are sent a bowel screening test kit every two years through the post, with instructions for doing the simple test at home. Kits can then be sent free of charge back to a laboratory for testing.

Last year in Cumbria nearly 20,000 men were invited to take part in screening but only 11,480 took the test. Nearly 9,000 men left it to chance.

A key issue among men in the at-risk group is that they have a negative perception of the screening test and consider it embarrassing and unpleasant.

Councillor Ian Stewart, the county council’s cabinet member for public health, said: “For me this is personal as in 1991 my father-in-law died of bowel cancer. He might have lived if the opportunity to check that we now have was available at that time.

“When the opportunity comes to me, I’m going to take it.

“Join me in taking this test, and let’s all live longer.”

Contact the bowel cancer screening helpline on 0800 707 6060.