Blue March: colorectal cancer awareness month

An annual event, the month of March is devoted to raising public awareness about colorectal cancer prevention and screening.

The Blue March (Mars Bleu) campaign, which is supported by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and healthcare professionals in the Principality and delivered via the Princess Grace Hospital and Monaco Health Screening Centre, involves a number of stakeholders.

In terms of mortality, colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer in men and the third most common in women. The prognosis depends on the stage at which it is diagnosed: this cancer can, to some extent, be prevented through screening of precancerous lesions, a process which also allows treatment to be given at an early stage when cancer is detected.

For this reason, all men and women aged 50 to 80 and covered by social security schemes in the Principality will receive a letter inviting them to get tested. The testing kit is available from the Monaco Health Screening Centre at Princess Grace Hospital, upon request from your family doctor, or from the Office of Occupational Medicine during the regular medical check-up.

The testing kit must be completed, deposited in the supplied envelope (which is pre-addressed and stamped) and posted in a mailbox in the Principality so that it can be sent free of charge to the Biology Laboratory at Princess Grace Hospital. The results will then be sent to the individual concerned and their doctor the following week. If the test is negative, you should get another one in two years. If the test is positive, your doctor will be contacted directly by the Monaco Health Screening Centre to arrange the necessary colonoscopy.

In support of Blue March and to mark the launch of the public health campaign, the Prince’s Palace will be lit up in blue on Friday 1 March.

If you have any questions about colon cancer screening, please contact the Monaco Health Screening Centre on (+377) 97 98 83 02.