Norgine, an independent, family-owned pharmaceutical laboratory founded more than a hundred and ten years ago, is mobilizing to make the general public aware of the importance of early detection of colorectal cancer. Indeed, it is the 3rd most common cancer in men and the 2nd most common in women. It affects 43,000 people in France every year and causes 17,000 deaths. If detected early, colorectal cancer is curable in 9 out of 10 cases. Early detection is therefore essential to save lives. It has been shown that when there is organized screening in the population, mortality linked to this cancer is reduced by a third.
Too little colorectal cancer screening
Participation in organized screening remains insufficient and the health crisis has made things even worse. Only 28.9% of the target population (people aged 50 to 74) got tested in 2019-2020 (compared to 30.5% in 2018-2019) while the objective set by the ten-year strategy to combat cancers is to reach 65%. Nearly 93,000 cancer diagnoses were missed in 2020 due to canceled appointments and unscheduled operations. 250,000 colonoscopies were postponed in the first six months of the pandemic.
How to make up for this delay?
The culmination of this laboratory’s information campaign was the organization of a conference which was broadcast live on September 23 on facebook and Youtube. This one, animated by Brigitte-Fanny Cohen, rich in interviews of specialists, with the testimony of a patient and interactive (questions of Internet user), endeavored to remove the taboos which surround this screening test, to answer all questions about colorectal cancer. The experts first recalled that this test is very easy to perform, extremely reliable, and that it can detect lesions at a very early stage and therefore cure cancers.
To reassure on the colonoscopy, carried out in the event of a positive test, this conference highlighted the fact that this examination carried out under short-term anesthesia is completely painless and that the preparation for it had been improved. Colonoscopy removes polyps before they become cancerous. The new endoscopic techniques make it possible to remove large polyps or even cancers at an early stage.
New ways of distributing the screening kit should help improve the rate of participation in organized screening. “The French are now invited to go see their general practitioner or will soon be able to order the test online, after having answered a self-questionnaire to find out if they do not need a colonoscopy instead” communicated the Pr Thierry Ponchon, gastroenterologist In addition, by the end of 2022, this test will be distributed by pharmacists. You should know that going from a participation rate of 29% to 65% would save 4,000 additional lives.
To inform as many people as possible, communications were published before the conference on social networks and following this conference to encourage viewing of the replay available on the Norgine.fr website (with link https://norgine.fr/). Finally, more than 25 press and radio reports were obtained around this event.
Watch the video of the conference on the site: https://norgine.fr/
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