One of the biggest killers in Australia is bowel cancer. It’s also the third most common type of newly diagnosed cancer, with more than 15,600 people diagnosed every year.

But not enough people are talking about it, or understand the signs.

To address this, the Government began rolling out the National Bowel Screening Program a few years ago, sending easy, at-home testing kits to people when they turn 50.

At the moment, there’s around a 40% participation rate in the program, but CEO of Cancer Council Australia, Professor Sanchia Aranda, is confident the $10 million funding boost for the awareness campaign from the Government will go a long way in changing this.

“If we can get it up to 6 [out of 10 people], around 84,000 lives will be saved in 20 years”.

Many people are turned off by the idea of poking their poo, but Professor Aranda urges people to do it.

“Finding it early when it’s cureable is the answer.”

“You’ll get it as a birthday present, so please do it!”

Bowel Cancer doesn’t just affect those over the age of 50, though. In fact, around 1,300 people under the age of 50, are diagnosed with the disease each year.

Erin’s seen first hand how devastating it is. Her sister, Sarah, was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer at the mere age of 27.

To find out more information about bowel cancer, visit Bowel Cancer Australia’s website and for more information about the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program, click here.