Photo: © Victoria University of Wellington. All rights reserved.
A prominent women's health expert says women are needlessly getting cervical cancer. Professor Bev Lawton from Victoria University of Wellington's Faculty of Health says the cervical screening programme is failing women, and a less invasive test should have been introduced three years ago. Professor Lawton's team has received funding to trial DIY HPV screening in partnership with Hawke's Bay iwi Ngāti Pāhauwera. Twice as many Māori women register as having cervical cancer as non-Māori. Professor Lawton says the home HPV test, coupled with technology that delivers almost instant results, will make a big difference to wahine presenting for screening, especially in rural areas.
