50 is Fifty Fifty

Scotland screens from 50. Australia screens from 45. The US screens from 45. The evidence for earlier screening is there – it’s been there for years.

In Ireland, we’re only now inching toward 55. One year at a time. Carefully managed stages. Meanwhile, people in their 40s and early 50s are being diagnosed with bowel cancer and wondering why nobody caught it sooner.
50 shouldn’t be a coin flip. Your chances of early detection shouldn’t depend on which side of a border you were born on.

If you’re 45 or older, put bowel cancer screening on your agenda at every annual GP visit. You may need to push for it. Push anyway. A FIT test costs around €100 in private primary care – it’s not on the state system for under-50s, even though it should be.

And if you have symptoms at any age – persistent changes in bowel habit, blood, bloating, unexplained weight loss – see your GP urgently. Don’t wait. Don’t hope it passes.

The system isn’t moving fast enough. So don’t wait for it.