Blue Mars: colorectal cancer screening still insufficient

As colorectal cancer awareness month begins tomorrow, the League Against Cancer is concerned about the low participation in screening, a phenomenon accentuated by the health crisis. “Although up slightly compared to 2020, the participation rate in organized colorectal cancer screening in 2021 remains very insufficient and must be relaunched after suffering the deleterious effects of the health crisis. deplore the activists.

Many taboos

“This can be explained by the many taboos that remain around these cancers, the lack of information and support… To these factors, around which we have been working tirelessly for years, is added the Covid pandemic -19, which has led to a drop in participation in all screenings. Due to the delays recorded, many cancers are diagnosed at more advanced stages”, adds Daniel Nizri, volunteer president of the League Against Cancer.

Men and women aged 50 to 74 are invited, every 2 years by a letter from the Health Insurance, to carry out an immunological self-test at home. Simple, painless and easy to do at home, it is 100% supported. Its benefit is twofold: by detecting early enough the presence of blood in the stool that may indicate lesions (polyps) that risk becoming cancerous, it allows them to be treated before they progress.

Two novelties

In 2022, two new features were implemented to facilitate access to screening:
– The possibility of requesting the sending of the test by post, which avoids going through a consultation with the doctor. In concrete terms, eligible people who have received the invitation to screening must go to the website http://www.monkit.depistage-colorectal.fr with the number appearing on the invitation letter. A questionnaire will then determine if the test is appropriate based on the person’s personal and family history, and if so, it will be sent to them.
– Consultation of the test result is now available online via another website: www.resultat-depistage.fr.