Colorectal cancer screening plan underway

Colorectal cancer screening will be available in the Faroes next year or in 2024 at the latest.

So says health minister Kaj Leo Holm Johannesen in his reply to MP Sirið Stenberg’s enquiry about the national cancer plan.

Faroese data on colorectal cancer is incomplete, but in Denmark, about 2,000 people die from colorectal cancer every year.

Research indicates that men aged above 60 who undergo colorectal cancer screening have a 51-percent lower risk of dying from colorectal cancer.

Expansion of screening services

The health minister expects to appoint a cross-disciplinary cancer committee soon.

Once this committee is up and running, work will begin on upgrading and expanding existing cancer screening services, with special emphasis on mammography and cervical cancer screening.

As outlined in the national cancer plan, this year will also see the appointment in the hospital system of specialists in kidney and bowel diseases plus a clinical sexologist and a psychologist.

Read the Faroese versions of this article here and here.

More Faroese News in English.