National Bowel Screening Programme coming to Waikato
Kia ora whānau,
Did you know that bowel cancer is the second highest cause of cancer death in New Zealand? Around 3000 of us will be diagnosed and 1200 will die of it each year.
But catching it early can save lives and all it takes to find it is a quick and easy test you can do at home.
The National Bowel Screening Programme is being rolled out across the Waikato region with the aim of reducing the devastating impact bowel cancer has on our communities.
If you're aged between 60 and 74, you will receive a test kit in the mail every two years around the time of your birthday. If that's on an even day (2nd, 4th, 6th) of the month you will receive a kit this year while those on an odd day (e.g 1st, 3rd, 5th) will get theirs in the programme's second year.
The test comes with clear instructions and will help detect early warning signs of bowel cancer. It is free for people aged 60-74 who are eligible for publicly funded healthcare.
If you're not in the screening age range and you have a family history of bowel cancer, you could be entitled to a colonoscopy. Talk to your GP for more information.
If you have symptoms of bowel cancer, don’t wait for screening, talk to your doctor now. Common symptoms of bowel cancer may include:
• a change in your normal bowel habit that continues for several weeks
• blood in your bowel motion.
Although these symptoms are usually caused by other conditions, it’s important to get them checked.
We're encouraging those in the eligible age group to complete the test and send it back, and for whānau to talk to their loved ones about the importance of getting tested.
Do it for you, do it for your whānau.
For more information, visit the Time to Screen website, call 0800 924 432 or talk to your doctor.
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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61.8% Summer
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36.5% Winter
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1.7% Other - I'll share below
Have you seen fisheries officers out and about?
Dumping your illicit catch then fleeing fisheries officers is about the worst thing you can do this summer and one group in Raglan found this out the hard way.
They were picked up as authorities ramp up their compliance work at boatramps across the region to make sure fishers are sticking to the rules. While most do - some even have their own sustainability codes - others do not.
Have you seen fisheries officers out and about? Tell us your reasons in the comments (adding NFP if you don't want your words used in print).
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