Via Christi offers free colon cancer screening kits at Dillons

Via Christi is offering free colon cancer screening kits during March to raise awareness during Colon Cancer Awareness Month.

A total of 2,500 kits are available for free to people age 50 and older at Dillons pharmacies across Kansas.

“Colon cancer can be serious,” said Maggie Ward, coordinator for Via Christi’s Cancer Outreach and Risk Assessment program, in a news release. “Many people think it is embarrassing to talk about symptoms they are experiencing, even with their doctor.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 50,000 Americans died from colon cancer in 2013 out of around 140,000 who are diagnosed.

The screening kits involve a stool sample sent to a lab in a postage-paid envelope. Participants will then be contacted with their results.

This story was originally published March 9, 2017 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Via Christi offers free colon cancer screening kits at Dillons."