Physicians are coming down hard on the Government's evidence being used to prop up their changes to bowel cancer funding

Last week the Government announced it will scrap a programme lowering the screening age for Maori and Pacific people, decreasing the age to 58 for everyone instead.

Royal Australasian College of Physicians's Dr Matt Wheeler says a claim that bowel cancer risk is similar across all groups at the same age, isn't true.

Wheeler says the peak age of diagnosis is earlier in Maori than non-Maori, which is why the original programme had their screening age at 50.