BMJ  2006;332:384 (18 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7538.384

News

Hanging in the balance

London

Could the UK's long awaited screening programme for bowel cancer become a victim of the NHS's financial crisis? Rebecca Coombes reports

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Until last Christmas everything seemed to be going well for those involved in the field of bowel cancer. Funding for a national screening programme for the condition, the second most common cause of death from cancer in the United Kingdom, had been agreed back in October 2004. The £34m ($60m; 50m) initiative, the first of its kind in Europe, is due to be rolled out in April to everyone in England aged between 60 and 69 years old.

But experts have become anxious that, at the 11th hour, the programme could be a victim of the current spending crisis in the NHS. Although the Department of Health says it is committed to the roll-out, no assurance has been given that the agreed funding will be protected.

Bowel cancer kills about 16 000 people a year in the UK. The high mortality is attributed to late detection of the disease. Only . . . [Full text of this article]

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