“Together against colon cancer – The Silent Killer”

Bulgaria is the only EU nation experiencing an upward trend in cancer mortality, with lung, colorectal, and breast cancers being the primary contributors to cancer fatalities. Moreover, Bulgaria remains one of the few EU countries that has yet to establish a national screening program for colon cancer, even though the illness ranks as the second most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the country.

In 2022, one of Bulgaria’s largest private donor organizations, the “Lachezar Tsotsorkov” Foundation, introduced the first pilot program for colon cancer screening, called “Together Against Colon Cancer.” The initiative, originally confined to the capital, Sofia, sought to raise awareness and provide free screening tests for individuals over the age of 50, per the EU guidelines.

Building on the pilot project’s success, which saw nearly 6,000 screening tests conducted only in Sofia, the Foundation launched a nation-wide screening program in March 2024. The extensive 360° integrated communication campaign reached nearly 6 million people (the Bulgarian population is around 7 million). More than 90 000 people did the screening test which made the campaign the largest screening initiative ever carried out in the country. The positive impact was proved by the personal stories shared with us, confirming that many lives were saved as a result.