A Kerry councillor criticized HSE policy for refusing to extend free bowel cancer screening to people over 70. The councillor cited World Health Organisation figures indicating that 50% of bowel cancer diagnoses occur in those over 70. The HSE currently provides free screening test kits only for individuals under 70. The councillor argued that the test is self-administered at home and requires limited HSE input, and that catching cancer early improves treatability while late detection is often fatal. Other councillors supported the motion and questioned why the older age group was excluded. A councillor also linked the issue to earlier calls to lower the age for breast cancer screening, citing inadequate responses and the benefits of early detection for reducing costs.
"“I find this startling... it is a self-administered test at home so does not require huge input from the HSE,” he said. “It is also a cancer that when caught early, is relatively treatable, but when not caught in time is unfortunately very often fatal...I would go as far as saying that this policy is discriminatory towards those over 70 years of age.”"
"“It is so important. Early detection and early intervention is absolutely key to higher success rate...I just think we are shooting ourselves in the foot here and adding to a higher cost of care.”"
"Councillor John O'Donoghue called for free bowel cancer screening over 70 years of age in light of World Health Organisation figures showing that 50pc of bowel cancer diagnoses are in those over 70. The HSE currently only offers free bowel cancer screening test kits for those under 70 years of age."
Read at Irish Independent
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