Priority Of Asian Women Dropped As Revamped Screening Programme Gets Underway

Federation of Women’s Health Councils (FWHC) is calling on Te Whatu Ora’s National Public Health Service to do the right thing and let Asian women know they won’t be eligible for free cervical screening as from July because they have been dropped from the National Cervical Screening Programme’s (NCSP) definition for priority women.

FWHC Co-convenor Barbara Robson says, “Historically Asian women have been included in the definition, along with Māori and Pacific women, and other women who are unscreened or under-screened. This means they have been able to access free screening. It didn’t make sense to us that Asian women had been dropped off, when at February this year there were just as many Asian women as Pacific women i.e. 40,000 for each cohort, who needed to be screened to achieve equity.”

At a recent meeting with the National Screening Unit (NSU)[1] it was confirmed the decision to exclude Asian women from the definition was made quite some time ago. The decision was informed by a piece of work undertaken by a Clinical Oversight Group that considered outcomes from a cervical cancer perspective. FWHC was assured the decision would withstand public scrutiny. “If that is the case”, Ms Robson says, “then Asian women need to be told sooner rather than later.”

FWHC contends the NSU has a duty to Asian women, to make the decision public, along with the report of the Clinical Oversight Group. “Asian women deserve transparency and respect and making an announcement now will at least give those Asian women who are due for cervical screening an opportunity to have a free screen before July”, says Ms Robson. “The NSU continuing to withhold this information from Asian women is unwise. It risks a backlash and loss of trust which is potentially counterproductive”.

Of course this could all be avoided if the NCSP was fully funded by the Government, something FWHC and other groups have been requesting for years. It is the only national screening programme not to be free to all participants. As from July 26th the NCSP will implement HPV testing as the first test in the screening pathway, including the option to self-test. “This is a huge change for the programme and it seems like the ideal opportunity to fully fund the programme and make it more equitable. It would remove cost as a key barrier to participation. But FWHC cannot be confident, in this fiscally constrained environment, the Government will be convinced to do this,” says Ms Robson. “Therefore 40,000 Asian women will swell the ranks of the other vulnerable groups who struggle to pay for cervical screening, whatever the test. If they have to pay, they may delay screening or not participate at all. It seems that women are still at the forefront of government cost-cutting measures despite the talk of a women’s health strategy and achieving equity.”

[1] NSU comes under Te Whatu Ora’s National Public Health Service

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