Cancer Care Ontario (CCO) recently launched Time to Screen, a call to action for at least 100,000 additional residents across Ontario to screen for breast, cervical and colorectal cancer over the next six months.
Time to Screen aims to get Ontarians to talk to their family and friends about getting screened, as cancer screening will help save countless lives by enabling earlier diagnosis and treatment.
Included in the initiative are creative e-cards about cancer screening for Ontarians to share with their loved ones.
Residents are also reminded to talk to their health care provider about being screened or visit the Time to Screen tool to find out the right time to be screened.
Time to Screen specifically encourages average risk men and women 50 to 74 years of age to screen for colorectal cancer every two years using the Fecal Occult Blood Test (FOBT), women 50 to 74 years of age to screen for breast cancer every two years with mammography and women 21 to 70 years to screen for cervical cancer every three years with a Pap test.
In the Waterloo Wellington LHIN region, cervical and colorectal cancer screening rates are higher than provincial average screening rates and are at the provincial average for breast cancer screening.
“There is strong evidence that screening for colorectal, breast and cervical cancers can reduce mortality,” said Dr. Rachael Halligan, regional primary care lead for the Waterloo Wellington Regional Cancer Program. “That’s why we have launched this call to action to encourage all Ontarians to get screened regularly.”
Minister of Health and Long-Term Care Deb Matthews recently spoke about the importance of cancer screening/
“Screening plays an incredibly important role in early detection and prevention,” said Matthews.
Cancer screening is proven to save lives by detecting pre-cancerous changes or cancer at an early stage:
– Cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable with regular Pap tests, appropriate and timely follow-up and HPV immunization;
– between 1990 and 2008, breast cancer death rates for Ontario women decreased by 37% which may be the result of better treatments and increased screening with mammography and a recent decline in breast cancer incidence.
While recent data show the percentage of people screening in Ontario for breast cancer is 67% and cervical cancer is 72%, screening for colorectal cancer with FOBT is significantly lower at 27%.
Time to Screen aims to increase screening rates for all three types of cancer by one percent by March 2013, which is an overall increase of 100,000 additional Ontarians getting screened.
“Increasing screening rates is a top priority for the Canadian Cancer Society and a key element in our fight against cancer,” says John Atkinson, Senior Manager, Prevention, Canadian Cancer Society, Ontario Division.
