[PREVENTION AND EARLY DETECTION OF COLORECTAL CANCER]

Colorectal cancer is a global problem worldwide because of its very high prevalence and mortality. Therefore, prevention of colorectal cancer and its early diagnosis is of great importance. In Croatia, the National Program for Colorectal Cancer has been carried out since 2007; however, the rate of response was about 18 percent, depending on the region. Such a great public health and social and economic problem requires multidisciplinary approach in which family physicians have an important role. The well spread and developed network of primary health care and the availability of family physicians to each inhabitant have not been sufficiently exploited, especially for such preventive activities where family physicians could supervise program implementation.