Friday night’s AFL Game will see the launch of the ‘Degrees of Separation’ consisting of a 30-second awareness campaign Featuring Sydney Swans Players.
Together with Swans CEO Tom Harley, the Jodi Lee Foundation, the ‘Degrees of Separation’ campaign urges Australians aged 50 to 74 to take the free bowel cancer screening test when it arrives from the federal government.
The campaign aims to point out that bowel cancer can affect any family, with the team sharing personal stories. For Swans coach John Longmire, it was his mum. For the players: it was Isaac Heeney’s grandfather, Will Hayward’s neighbour and Oliver Florent’s father.
To further encourage uptake of the screening program, attendees at the Swans versus Hawks game on Friday night will also have the opportunity to obtain a screening kit thanks to additional support by the government.
Attendees aged 50 to 74 can order a free National Bowel Cancer Screening Kit to be sent to their home. Those under 50 or aged 75 and over can purchase a ColoVantage screening kit for the cost of $42 by scanning a QR code on Driver Avenue.
Longmire’s mother was diagnosed with bowel cancer at age 58. She fought hard but sadly passed away at age 63 in 2012.
“When the kit from the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program arrives in the mail when you turn 50, make sure you do it, and do it every two years after that,” he said.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said: “We know bowel cancer screening saves lives. On current figures, around 59,000 Australians will be saved by 2040 by doing their free bowel cancer screening kit.
“If we can increase so six in 10 Australians complete the test, we will save the lives of another 24,000 people.”
“That is why the government recently announced a $9.7 million national campaign to increase the numbers of Australians completing their bowel cancer screening. This investment is part of a larger effort across the three national cancer screening programs – breast, cervical and bowel – to get more people screening.”
Founder and chair of the Jodi Lee Foundation, Nick Lee, said: “The Degrees of Separation campaign will help build greater awareness of bowel cancer and the importance of early detection using a simple at-home bowel screening test.”
In addition to being shown in front of the crowd at the SCG on Friday night, the Seven Network will also be highlighting the campaign nationally within the pre-game coverage Friday Night Countdown on 7mate.
