WELLINGTON, July 17 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Health Minister Jonathan Coleman said on Monday that the start of the national bowel screening program is a major milestone for the country's health system, and will "ultimately save lives."
"This week the first letters inviting people to take part in the screening program are being sent to eligible residents in Hutt Valley and Wairarapa," Coleman said in a release.
Coleman said this program will help to detect bowel cancer at an early stage, when treatment is easier and the outcomes more successful.
Over the next two years, approximately 30,000 residents in the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa will be invited to do the bowel screening test, he said.
According to the minister, every year around 3,000 New Zealanders are diagnosed with bowel cancer and more than 1,200 die from it. Once screening is available nationwide it is expected that up to 700 cancers will be detected annually.
