Oakland County residents between 45 and 75 can get a free at-home colorectal cancer screening kit by calling the county's Nurse on Call line.

The Oakland County Health Division announced the program Sunday, Aug. 30, saying the kits are available at no cost to eligible residents. The program is a partnership between the American Cancer Society and Henry Ford Health, which operates Henry Ford Rochester Hospital in Rochester.

To qualify, residents must meet two conditions: they cannot have had a colonoscopy within the past 10 years, and they cannot have completed a stool-based screening test in the past year. That includes a fecal immunochemical test (FIT) or a fecal occult blood test (FOBT).

The at-home kits check for hidden blood in the stool. According to the American Cancer Society, FIT tests require no bowel prep, no dietary changes and no office visit. A positive result requires a follow-up colonoscopy.

Why screening matters

Colorectal cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer death in the United States. An estimated 158,850 Americans will be diagnosed with the disease in 2026 and about 55,230 will die from it, according to the Colorectal Cancer Alliance.

More than one in three adults 45 and older are not screened as recommended, according to the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable.

When caught at the localized stage, the five-year survival rate is 91.3%, according to the National Cancer Institute's SEER program. A study published in JAMA Network Open in August 2026, tracking more than 376,000 people in Sweden over 14 years, found that screening participants had a 43% lower risk of dying from the disease, ScienceDaily reported.

How to get a kit

Residents can call the Oakland County Health Division's Nurse on Call line at 800-848-5533. The health division is based in Southfield.

The county has not stated an end date for the program or whether kit supplies are limited.