Asian women are being dropped as a priority group for the National Cervical Screening Programme. Photo: 123RF
A health advocacy group says dropping Asian women as a priority group for the National Cervical Screening Programme is a step in the wrong direction.
The Federation of Women's Health Councils said that it found about about the move hearing from people with information and reading the minutes of an advisory and action group.
Co-convenor Barbara Robson said historically Asian women have been a priority, along with Māori and Pacific women, and the move doesn't make sense when there are just as many Asian as Pacific women (40,000 for each cohort for February this year) who need to be screened to achieve equity.
"We believe that Asian women should be informed of the decision that's being made and provided with the justification for making the decision."
Robson said the National Screening Unit has a duty to Asian women to make the decision public, along with the report of a Clinical Oversight Group, which might have informed the decision.
"The NSU continuing to withhold this information from Asian women is unwise.
"It risks a backlash and loss of trust which is potentially counterproductive."
Robson said this could be avoided if the screening programme was fully funded by the government.
She said her group, along with others, have been advocating for this for years but it has never been eventuated.
"If we can't have everyone fully funded, we make an effort to get more women accessing free screening," she said, adding that refugee women and others who had financial hardship should be included in the programme.
In a statement on Monday, Te Whatu Ora national director of prevention Astrid Koornneef said: "All women who are either under-screened or who have not been screened for cervical cancers, regardless of ethnicity, are continuing to be prioritised by Te Whatu Ora to lift their screening rates.
"There has been no reduction in our focus on supporting the health of Asian women through cervical screening. They continue to be a priority given there are a number who remain either under screened or not screened. This is why we are continuing to target them (and others) through a number of health promotion and communication campaigns aimed at increasing screening rates.
"But with clinical evidence showing that Maori and Pacific women continue to suffer from a much higher mortality rate from cervical cancers than other ethnic groups, we are shifting some of our focus and funding to give more targeted support to this group.
"As of March 2023, 67.5 percent of all eligible women had received a cytology screen within the previous three years. For Māori women, the screening rate was 55 percent and for Pacific women, the rate was 55.9 percent. For Asian women the rate was 59percent and for ‘other’, the rate was 74.6 percent.
"Currently, Māori have around twice the incidence and mortality from cervical cancer than for ‘other’ groups. Pacific women also have higher rates of cervical cancer incidence and mortality. While Asian women have lower rates of screening, their cancer rates are not higher than ‘other’ groups.
"This clinical evidence has led the National Cervical Screening Programme (NCSP) to propose prioritising funding for free cervical screening from July 2023 for Māori and Pacific women , as well as any women who are under-screened and who have never been screened, including Asian women."
The proposal was yet to be finalised by Te Whatu Ora, Koornneef said.