Anyone that has seen what cancer will do to a person will always be on the lookout for signs of the dreaded disease.

All too often, it takes personal experience of someone else’s suffering to prompt people into getting checks and to screen themselves. Nowadays, much of the emphasis is on early detection of breast cancer in women and prostate cancer in men. Both are treatable and both have high survivability rates and it is commendable that the government and various NGOs have pushed and pushed for more awareness.

Of course, the media also plays a part in awareness campaigns and this time, it was to push the Health Department’s drive to make women aged between 60 and 64 (the high risk bracket) to take advantage of a screening programme which will begin in October.

The test is non-invasive and can be carried out at home. Just like any other form of cancer, the earlier it is detected, the better it can be treated. If it is caught early, the treatment needed is less aggressive and survival rates are much higher.

Over a period of two years, some 28,000 people will be invited to take part. Those who qualify will receive a test kit through the post. It is simple, one must simply take a sample of their faeces on a matchstick and put it in a special container which is provided. It is then placed in a printed and addressed envelope and sent off to Mater Dei for testing.

The Health Department has learned from the breast screening campaign, and this time began with its promotion a number of months before the drive kicks off. The main reasons for this were that people needed to prepare themselves through a special diet as well as the fact that the authorities realised that more time was needed to ensure that there was enough awareness.

In announcing the scheme, the government said that out of the 28,462 women who were invited to take part in the breast screening programme, 16,000 accepted. Out of those 16,000, 120 women who had no idea that they had cancer were diagnosed. Each and every case that is caught through screening is a triumph in itself. The service is there and people must take it up and make full use of it.

The authorities must make sure that they target men, in particular. As has been proven scientifically, men are much less likely than women to seek treatment and/or tests. There is no middle road with this. Cancer is a killer. A good proportion of us will get it. We should therefore safeguard our health by taking every possible opportunity to detect it early.