The National Bowel Screening Programme is a free programme for people aged 60 to 74 years.
It aims to save lives by detecting bowel cancer at an early stage when it can often be successfully treated.
This is an invitation-based screening programme and is available nationwide.
To be invited, you must be:
- aged 60 to 74 years
- eligible for publicly funded health care
The screening test is quick, clean and simple to do by yourself at home.
Bowel screening is for people who don’t have any symptoms of bowel cancer. If you have any bowel symptoms which concern you, please talk to your doctor straight away.
In some parts of Aotearoa New Zealand, free bowel screening is available to Māori and Pacific people from the age of 50 to 74. In other parts of the country, the age for free bowel screening is 60 to 74 for everyone. The starting age is lower because a higher proportion of bowel cancer occurs in Māori and Pacific people before reaching 60, compared with others.
For further information go to timetoscreen.nz, free phone 0800 924 432, or talk to your doctor.
*The Waitemata District Health Board Bowel Screening Pilot ended in December 2017. From 2018, Waitemata DHB became part of the National Bowel Screening Programme, with people aged 60 to 74 invited to take part. Anyone who was invited to take part in the Pilot will continue to be invited for regular testing every two years. Click here for further information.