57 is still too late

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month – to mark it, Ireland announced that BowelScreen will drop its starting age from 58 to 57.

We welcome every step forward. But moving one year at a time, when the evidence points to 45, isn’t ambition – it’s a delay dressed up as progress. The US and Australia screen from 45. We’re 12 years behind.

If you’re 45 or older, ask your GP about screening at your next checkup. Ask every year.

And if you have symptoms right now – blood, changes in bowel habit, unexplained weight loss – go to your GP today. Any age. Any symptoms.

57 is still too late.