Making an announcement to spend $280,000 a year to provide Islanders with colorectal cancer screening, P. E. I.’s health minister, Carolyn Bertram has urged all the elderly residents to take an active part in the new colorectal cancer screening program which is aimed at making the screening more accessible.

Emphasizing the importance of early detection for effective treatments, she said that this drive would surely help in preventing the spread of colorectal cancer in the province.

In another important announcement, the government has also decided to distribute free home-based test kits for colorectal cancer to all Islanders other than making them available at all family health centers and medical clinics across the province.

Experts are considering this move to be a very crucial one in curbing down the rates at which cases of colorectal cancer are increasing in the region. Reports suggest that cancer of the rectum or colon is one of the most common cancers on the Island in both men and women with a 30% higher rate as compared to the national average.

Keith Dewar, CEO of Health P. E. I. said, “The good news is, national colorectal cancer-related death rates have declined significantly for both men and women, likely due to improvements in treatment and early detection. Minister Bertram and the provincial government are to be commended for supporting this important program province-wide to help promote and protect the health of Islanders”.