July 11, 2013
Gift waka will help breast screening
Efforts to screen more Māori and Pacific Island women for breast cancer have been boosted with the donation of 12 cars by Toyota New Zealand to the Breast Cancer Foundation.
The cars have been loaned to breast screening services in places where the uptake of mammogram screening is below the 70 percent target.
BreastScreen Aotearoa Clinical Director, Marli Gregory, says in addition to providing vital transport to screening and diagnostic testing, the car journey will be a chance for one-on-one conversations between women and health workers, potentially leading to overall better understanding and use of health services.
The mortality rate for Māori and Pacific Island women from breast cancer is more than 40 percent higher than for European women, with early diagnosis a factor in survival rates.
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