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August 11, 2023
Home cancer tests empowering for wahine Māori
Atereano Mateariki
Posted On August 11, 2023
Download AudioA Māori health advocate is welcoming a new screening option of home testing for cervical cancer.
From September home self-testing kits will be available for the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is an indicator of risk of cervical cancer.
They will be free through primary health providers and family planning services for wāhine Māori, Pasifika, community service card holders, and those who have never been screened or haven’t been tested in the past five years.
Professor Bev Lawton, the founder and director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine, the National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa at Victoria University, says it’s something that enables and empowers wahine and should lead to wider acceptance of testing.
“To me it’s very exciting. We can eliminate this cancer. We can prevent it so we don’t need to have it. These are young women, average age 40. Any wahine is important to our whanau but it’s really important we make an effort to champion it as a community,” she says.
Professor Lawton says in trials nine out of ten tests came up negative, but one out of 10 led to referrals for a more detailed examination by cervical smear.
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