The National Bowel Cancer Coalition is committed to reducing the number of people affected by bowel cancer – Australia’s second biggest cancer killer – and improving the lives of patients with this disease.

 

We aim to elevate public awareness of the symptoms of bowel cancer, as well as to promote early diagnosis, improve access to treatments, provide support for all those affected by this disease and advocate for R&D and clinical trials funding to better understand this disease.

 

The implementation of the Australian Government’s National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) from 2006 has been a welcome first step in tackling this major disease. However, the National Bowel Cancer Coalition believes that much remains to be done to achieve a greater public profile of the disease and to deliver a brighter future for bowel cancer patients.

 

We have therefore developed the ‘Bowel Cancer 2012 Challenge’, which sets out our vision for combating the disease in Australia and improving bowel cancer patient outcomes over the next three years. It is our belief that by working together with all levels of government and the community we can deliver a significant change in the number of Australians dying from the disease and in the quality of bowel cancer services for patients and their families.