A public health expert has told of her adventurous Himalayan trekking challenge to help Scots beat bowel cancer.
Celia Briffa-Watt, NHS Scotland’s National Programme Board Chair for Bowel Screening, described how she strode out at gruelling altitude to raise money for charity and promote awareness of bowel cancer testing and the symptoms of the condition.
Celia, a Public Health Consultant with NHS Lanarkshire, trekked in the Himalayas in India for the Bowelbabe Fund for Cancer UK, set up by high-profile bowel cancer campaigner, the late Dame Deborah James.
As Bowel Cancer Awareness Month continues, Celia is throwing a spotlight on the need to improve screening uptake across Scotland – especially in her own patch.
Lanarkshire comes second-last among Scotland’s health boards for use of bowel screening kits, particularly worrying as locals who do take the test have the nation’s highest positivity rate. The good news is that screening is the best way to detect bowel cancer early – when treatments are more successful.
Celia, 46, from Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire, said: “It was a fantastic experience and I met some incredible people from across the UK among the 33 other participants on the five-day hike.
“There were people who are currently living with bowel cancer, those who had successfully come through the disease and others who had sadly lost a family member due to it.
“We stayed at two campsites and set off on our treks early each morning, making it back to camp the same day. The terrain was tough with sheer drops at the edge of every path as we did climbs reaching up to 2,600 metres.
“While we carefully tackled the rough paths with all the gear and walking poles, we had to laugh when we saw an 80-year-old woman from a local village carrying her shopping and wearing flip-flops.
“The fact that there were vultures circling above us was a bit unsettling, and we were followed by packs of stray dogs who came on the treks and helped us eat our lunches.
“The villagers welcomed us warmly and we visited a local primary school.”
While preparing by training on local hills and joining a walking club, Celia held fundraising events and collected £6,000 for the Bowelbabe Fund Himalayan Trek India, run by Charity Challenge.
“Bowel screening is offered to men and women aged 50 to 74 across Scotland every two years. Early detection improves treatment options and outcomes for patients. So it’s never been more important to do your test when it’s posted to you, or ask for a test if you didn’t do the last one.
“We continue to see fewer men than women taking the test and that’s a concern. Nationally, uptake for screening has fallen slightly and it’s the same for Lanarkshire. We see big differences in uptake across different areas and are working to improve the numbers taking part.
“As Deborah James’s experience shows, people who are too young for screening should also be vigilant about the symptoms of bowel cancer, which include blood in your poo, changes in your bowel habits and tummy pain.”
For full information on the Scottish bowel screening programme – and how to order a kit if you didn’t use your last one – visit the bowel screening section of the NHS Inform website.
