The Western Sydney Wanderers and Australian Government want to boost the number of Australians taking care of their health by doing their free bowel cancer screening kit.
The new partnership will see the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) promoted to thousands of Wanderers fans at all CommBank Stadium home games throughout the 2021/22 A‑League Season.
Currently, around 4 in 10 eligible Australians do their free bowel screening kit. Lifting that number to 6 in 10 could save 83,000 lives over the next 20 years.
On ground LED displays, ground activations and social media messages will feature players championing this important bowel cancer screening message in a range of languages representative of the Wanderers’ community.
Western Sydney represents over 180 different cultures and more than 2.2 million Australians.
Western Sydney Wanderers CEO John Tsatsimas said that the club was proud to support the Australian Government initiative.
“Community is central to everything that we do as a club and we are very proud to be partnering up with the Australian Government to help increase the number of Australians that complete their free bowel screening kit,” said Tsatsimas.
“Western Sydney is a diverse and multicultural region and it is important that we as a club, have an impact on our local community that goes beyond football.
“We encourage all our members and fans that are eligible to take the test, it’s a free and simple process that could save their lives.”
Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP said the Australian Government was partnering with the Wanderers to promote this important public health program to their extensive fan base.
“The Wanderers are community centred club, so partnering with them to promote the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program to help keep their community health and bowel cancer free is a natural fit.”
“The players have a unique connection with their fans, and their ability to speak in the languages of their community at games and through social media will save lives, “ Minister Hunt said.
The campaign kicked off at the club’s Friday night fixture on 11 February against the Central Coast Mariners and will be in full flight for the remainder of the season.
The NBCSP provides free home testing kits to eligible Australians aged 50 to 74 every two years. These simple test kits can detect pre-cancerous changes. When detected early, bowel cancer can be successfully treated in more than 90% of cases.
For more information on the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program or to re-order a test visit How bowel screening works | Australian Government Department of Health.
