Things I don't understand (5): People who refuse medical screening

 C mentioned, during a phone call to an acquaintance, that she was expecting her 2-yearly bowel cancer screening test kit to arrive through the post shortly. This was met with "Oh I got one but I threw it in the bin".

Both of us have always welcomed the occasional free screening from the NHS - age-related routine checks, screening for cervical, breast and bowel cancer, and the ultrasound to check for aortic aneurism that men are offered at age 65. 

It's well known that early diagnosis improves the prognosis in bowel and breast cancer. So why would anyone refuse the screening service? I accept that some temporary discomfort is involved with, for example, breast and cervical screening, but not so with the bowel cancer screening (which we jokingly call "the poo test"). Some people may be squeamish about sampling their poo I guess, but it's something all of our bodies produce and the majority of folks will have had to deal with other peoples' at some point in their lives, non-parents excepted. And a little discomfort is minor compared with the likely suffering through missed diagnoses.

Personally I'd be happy for the NHS to provide only palliative care to cancer sufferers who have refused screening tests. They've made the decision to refuse screening so they should not expect the rest of us to fund the resources to cure them!