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By ADAM BOWIE
bowie.adam@dailygleaner.com

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New Brunswick's top cancer official says the province will develop one of the best colorectal cancer screening programs in the country over the next three years.

Dr. Eshwar Kumar, co-CEO of the New Brunswick Cancer Network, said he's been watching how other provinces screen for colorectal cancer, and he thinks that will help build a successful model in New Brunswick.

"We've done the necessary homework to this point," he said.

"I think the implementation over the next three years will help us develop the sort of program that I think should be one of the best in the country. Having worked with all the other provinces, I guess we've learned from their experiences."

Kumar said the network will design the program's framework and begin rolling it out over the next three years, starting in 2010-11.

He said the model will be linked to other cancer screenings - something other provinces haven't tried yet.

"One of the benefits that you're going to see in New Brunswick, which is quite unique, is the fact that our three screening programs - breast, cervical cancer, and colorectal cancer - will be an integrated program," he said.

"This integrated approach is something that I think is going to be very unique in the country. Most other provinces have separate, standalone programs, but our plan has always been to have one integrated screening program."

Kumar said there are many decisions to make before it'll be introduced on a provincewide basis.

"We need to get a good handle on what the government resources are, to sort of determine what sort of testing program we need to introduce," he said.

"We're going to learn from what the other provinces are doing."

The screening program will likely involve a fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) for people over 50 years of age, who have a much higher chance of getting the illness.

That means about 200,000 residents will be asked to submit two to three stool samples that will be analyzed for microscopic traces of blood - an early sign of the development of polyps, or cells, that lead to colorectal cancer.

Kumar said catching the illness before it develops into cancer will make life easier for many New Brunswickers and save significant dollars for the health-care system.

"So the first year, and into the second year, we will be deciding and planning all that, and making sure that by the time the program is ready to roll out, that we have the necessary infrastructure in place," he said.

"There's no sense in getting the test out there if we cannot follow up on it."

Health Minister Mary Schryer said placing more emphasis on prevention is a critical strategy for the provincial cancer strategy.

"We need to, as a society, understand that we've got to take care of ourselves and if we have an opportunity to prevent, before we end up in acute care, that's what we need to do," she said.

"This screening program that we announced (Tuesday) is critical in the prevention of colorectal cancer. Just as we made advances in breast cancer with mammography screening, and cervical cancer with pap tests, this is the same idea, and it's vital."