TENS of thousands of people in the Lothians are to be sent home-testing kits for bowel cancer.
Everyone between 50 and 74 and signed up to a GP will get the kits next month in a bid to catch the disease at an earlier stage.
Dr Alison McCallum, director of public health and health policy for NHS Lothian, said trials elsewhere in the country
had shown the scheme saved lives.
She said: "Bowel cancer is the third most common cancer in Scotland and there is good evidence to support bowel cancer screening as a successful way of preventing deaths. Screening can help save lives by catching the disease at an early stage.
"The kit is easy to use and there is also a helpline and website providing advice and assistance."
Bowel cancer kills around 1600 people a year, and 3500 are diagnosed with it annually. Dr McCallum pointed out that men – known to be more reluctant to get medically checked than women – would especially benefit.
"This will also be the first screening programme that includes men and, as bowel cancer is more common in men, it is especially important that they take part," she said.
"We know that the cure rate is very high if the disease is detected early enough. It is important that we get the message across that screening saves lives.
"The test is easy to do, it's not something to be embarrassed about and it could save your life." The age group concerned have also been urged to reduce the risks of bowel cancer by stopping smoking, eating more fruit and exercising regularly.
The screening kits contain three sample sticks which are used on three separate occasions before being sent back to be examined.
It is understood that people older than 74 are not included in the initiative because it is deemed unreasonable to expect them to carry out their own testing.
Dr Dermot Gorman, who is leading the programme, said: "We know the chances of successfully treating bowel cancer are much higher when the disease is detected at an early stage.
"I would urge everyone receiving the testing kit to take part in the scheme. The test is easy to do and will save lives."
The news was also welcomed by the Scottish Patients' Association. But chairwoman Margaret Watt said the scheme should now be introduced all over Scotland and the age limits broadened.
She said: "This is good news, but patients in the whole of Scotland are vulnerable, not just in the Lothians. People these days are getting cancer at 30 and 40, and I don't think those over 74 should be discriminated against either."
