May 10, 2021
Cancer screening programmes get Budget upgrade
A new self-administered test is expected to boost the participation of wāhine Māori in programmes to pick up cervical cancer at an early stage.
Associate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall says next week’s Budget will include funding of up to $53 million to complete the design of and implement a new test for human papilloma virus, which causes 99 percent of cervical cancers.
The new HPV test is a simple swab women can do themselves, and will replace the current smear test.
Dr Verral says it will be more acceptable to those wāhine Māori who are not in the National Cervical Screening Programme, often because of the time, cost and whakamā associated with taking the smear test.
The Budget will also include $55 million to upgrade the technology used for the national breast screening programme, and another $10 million to catch up on breast screens missed due to Covid-19 lockdowns.
Dr Verral says with the new system it will allow Breast Screening Aotearoa to identify priority group women who may not already be part of the programme, especially Māori and Pacific women who have a higher rate of deaths from breast cancer than non-Māori and non-Pacific women.
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