With the Blue Mars operation, each year, awareness actions are carried out with the public concerning colorectal cancer.
The second deadliest cancer in France, colorectal cancer is responsible for more than 17,000 deaths each year. And the latter, insists Dr. Elsa Vignon, doctor in charge of the site within the CRCDC-OC (regional cancer screening coordination center), “concerns both men and women”.
“Silent cancer, it develops on the walls of the colon or rectum from a benign (non-cancerous) tumor called a polyp. The latter can bleed intermittently and in very small quantities. Impossible then for people with s ‘see it’, explains Elsa Vignon. And to add: “From the age of 50, people receive an invitation to their home, then every two years until the age of 74. With this, they can go to their GP, collect a screening kit which allows detect blood, invisible to the naked eye in the stool. Easy to use, the test is carried out at home and it is completely free”.
With a relatively low participation rate, less than 30.60% only of the entire eligible population in Occitanie, 29.10% in Aude – information and awareness are of prime importance.