"In order to achieve this, we have worked alongside the five kaupapa Māori health services across our district," Kui said.
"Our focus has been to raise awareness of bowel cancer and promote our screening programme to Māori in their communities; to engage them and their whānau in understanding and participating in the programme.
"We are committed to the screening programme and achieving the best outcome for our communities, and are hopeful we can achieve the highest screening participation rates for Māori in the country."
Whanganui's bowel screening project manager Ben McMenamin has made presentations at hui across the region, and has attended a series of events, using a giant inflatable bowel as a hard-to-miss prop.
He acknowledged the support of iwi service providers Te Oranganui (Whanganui), Mokai Patea Services (Taihape), Te Kotuku Hauora o Rangitikei (Marton), Ngati Rangi Community Health Centre (Ohakune) and Te Puke Karanga Hauora (Raetihi) in helping to spread the message.
"Whanganui Cancer Society has also helped with promotion, consumer consultation and training people to use the inflatable bowel," McMenamin said.
Whanganui GP John McMenamin is the Ministry of Health's bowel screening lead for primary healthcare, and he was thrilled to see the programme launching in the Whanganui DHB region.
"There may be no warning that you have bowel cancer, so doing the bowel screening test is an easy way to identify that something might be wrong," he said.
"I will be encouraging all patients in the 60-74 year age group to complete their kit when it arrives in the mail."
Screening every two years can save lives by helping find the cancer early when it can often be successfully treated. People who are diagnosed with early stage bowel cancer, and who receive treatment early, have a 90 per cent chance of long-term survival.
