March is Monaco’s colorectal cancer awareness month.
Colorectal cancer is a screenable and therefore preventable cancer and the Monaco health authorities are urging residents to get screened.
Like every year, the month of March is dedicated to raising awareness among the population for the prevention and screening of colorectal cancer, the Government says.
Colorectal cancer represents, in terms of mortality, the second most common cancer in men and the third in women. Prognosis in treatment depends on the stage of diagnosis: this cancer can, in part, be prevented thanks to screening for precancerous lesions which also allows treatment early when cancer is detected.
This is why all people aged 50 to 80, men or women with social insurance in the Principality, will receive a letter inviting them to be tested. A screening kit is available at the Monegasque Screening Centre in the Princess Grace Hospital Centre, on request from the attending physician, or from the Office of Occupational Medicine on the occasion of a periodic medical examination.
The screening kit can be returned free of charge to the Biology Laboratory of the Princess Grace Hospital Centre. The results will then be sent to the person concerned as well as to their attending physician within next week. If the test is negative, a new one should be carried out two years later. In the event of a positive test, the attending physician will be directly informed by the Monegasque Center for Screening to organise the necessary colonoscopic control.
As part of the Blue Mars campaign, the Prince’s Palace will be illuminated in blue on Friday March 1 in order to support this public health initiative. For any questions regarding colon cancer screening, please contact the Monegasque Screening Centre at (+377) 97 98 83 02.
