The most in-depth research on bowel cancer that's ever been carried out in New Zealand has been released, pushing the case for a national screening programme.
The disease kills 1200 Kiwis every year.
Sufferer Mary Bradley was diagnosed with bowel cancer when she was 28. After chemotherapy she now lives a happy and healthy lifestyle, but as part of the charity Bowel Cancer New Zealand she's calling for change.
"Early detection goes hand-in-hand with screening," she says.
The research studied the care of more than 5600 New Zealanders over a seven-year period.
It showed a third only found out they had bowel cancer when they turned up at the hospital's emergency department.
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