Latest news with #Verrall
NZ Herald
a day ago
- Health
- NZ Herald
Labour ponders free tests as Government struggles with slow path to cervical cancer elimination
A report, obtained by the Herald under the Official Information Act, noted that screening rates had fallen across the board during the pandemic, with the national rate of people up-to-date with their screening falling from 71.2% in October 2019 to 67.4% in October 2023. Slowly, screening rates have climbed, including among Māori, Pacific and Asian women, whose screening rates have tended to be below the national average. Rates of screening for Māori women only exceeded 2019 levels earlier this year. The report said that recovering screening rates were largely the result of new HPV self-tests. Of the 450,000 HPV primary screens completed between the rollout of HPV primary screening in September 2023 and October 2024, 81% were self-tests, the report said. Every three years, the Health Minister must appoint a Parliamentary Review Committee (which despite the name, does not include MPs) to review the National Cervical Screening Programme (NCSP). The figures in this story were included in a briefing Brown received in October on the progress Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora was making towards the 31 recommendations made by the 2021-2023 committee. The briefing warned that the recommendations were 'highly ambitious and unfunded' and made during a time of 'tight fiscal settings'. Officials produced a traffic-light chart of all 31 recommendations, charting which ones were tracking to plan and which were not, rating them green to red for their deliverability. One recommendation that had been 'orange – paused' was 'considering options for the development of an elimination strategy' for the cancer. Brown said this had been started again. 'The Ministry of Health is leading the development of a cervical cancer elimination plan in partnership with the Cancer Control Agency,' he said. The only recommendation to be given a 'red – critical' rating was the recommendation to roll out free screening to all populations. 'Funding has not yet been secured for all population to receive free cervical screening in NZ,' the paper said. In 2023, the then Labour Government rolled out a new HPV test which could be self-administered. HPV causes over 95% of cervical cancers. This was accompanied by $7.3m to pay for free tests for some populations. The ability to self-test is meant to appeal to people who felt uncomfortable with the likes of a smear test, which are administered by someone else. Verrall said the cervical cancer screening programme was 'the only national screening programme where people are expected to pay for access'. 'Women might well ask, if I'm screening myself now, why do I have to pay?' she said. While some providers offered the service for free, others did not and required a co-payment or similar charge. Verrall said the test can be delivered in a diverse range of settings, allowing eligibility for free tests to be widened further. 'People who have the lowest participation and screening are those who sometimes struggle to pay,' she said.
NZ Herald
2 days ago
- Health
- NZ Herald
Simeon Brown defends rollout of breast cancer screening with 370 women seen – full implementation not until 2029
She said the fact the nationwide rollout would not be complete until 2029 was a 'broken promise'. 'To only have screened a fraction of a percent of the eligible women is a broken promise and shows how incapable this Government is of delivering health services for New Zealanders,' she said. Labour health spokewoman Ayesha Verrall during the Health select committee hearing, Parliament, Wellington, 03 December, 2024. NZME photograph by Mark Mitchell Brown said eligibility was being brought online progressively to avoid overwhelming the system. The Nelson-Marlborough region was the first to deliver the new scheme last October and the nationwide rollout will start in the same month this year. Brown said the programme had begun with women aged 70 and 74 (who had not been screened in the past two years) and did not yet include women aged 71 to 73. This was to target people who had not recently had a screening while ensuring the workforce was not overwhelmed by a large cohort all at once. 'It will be progressively extended to people between 70 and 74 as the rollout expands,' he said. 'The number who are eligible is growing as the rollout is taking place.' Simeon Brown Minister of Health gives a speech and answers questions regarding Health Reform at MinterEllisonRuddWatts offices in downtown Auckland/Tamaki Makaurau. NZME photograph by Alex Burton 07 March 2025 Brown said there were an estimated 1600 women aged 70 or 74 in the Nelson-Marlborough region. He said that up until May, screenings were only being 'offered'. A new computer system means eligible women are being contacted directly to come forward for a screening. 'We've seen a much greater uptake since then. This is about making sure the systems are in place ahead of the national rollout that begins in October,' Brown said. He said expanding the reach of the scheme would follow a similar pattern and would not be completed out until October 2029 because it was important to 'manage demand on the system'. 'There will be further information announced later this year,' he said. Verrall said the phased rollout would mean some people missing out. 'This is a broken promise. Women understood screening would be promised at the election. It now turns out many of those women will never be able to access the screening they were promised,' she said. Verrall, who was Health Minister in the last Government, said Labour had not campaigned on increasing the screening age because officials had told her it would be 'very challenging because of staffing constraints on screening'. 'Nonetheless, the National Party did not change its position – now they are letting women down,' she said.
