Healthy lifestyle

Adopting the following healthy lifestyles can reduce your risk of developing colorectal cancer:

• increasing your intake of food with high dietary fibre;
  
• reducing consumption of red and processed meat;
  
• having regular exercise;
  
• maintaining a healthy body weight and waist circumference;
  
• abstaining from or quitting smoking; and
  
• avoiding alcoholic drinks.
  

Screening

Screening refers to carrying out tests on people without symptoms to either detect the disease or identify those who may have an increased risk of developing it. This allows early diagnosis, prompt treatment and helps increase the chances of an effective cure.

Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme

The Government launched the Colorectal Cancer Screening Programme (the Programme) in 2016. Using a public-private partnership model, the Programme subsidises asymptomatic Hong Kong residents aged between 50 and 75 to undergo screening tests in the private sector to prevent colorectal cancer.

Eligible persons can participate in the screening by attending medical consultation provided by a primary care doctor enrolled in the Programme and receive a Faecal Immunochemical Test (FIT)—a new version of the faecal occult blood test. If the FIT result is positive, the participant will be referred to an enrolled colonoscopy specialist to receive a colonoscopy examination subsidised by the Government. If the FIT result is negative, the participant is advised to repeat the FIT screening every two years.