Lung cancer screenings, cervical cancer checks, along with Covid-19 and MMR immunisations and jabs for kids were all available. Photo: AFP
An immunisation and screening drive at Kirikiriroa Marae in Hamilton is proving to be a success, with hundreds turning up to make use of it.
The event was a bid to raise vaccination rates for Māori, as whanau are falling behind when compared with pākehā.
Lung cancer screenings, cervical cancer checks, along with Covid-19 and MMR immunisations and jabs for kids were all available.
Resident Hinemoa Kingi said it if was not for events like this, she would not have got checked.
"If it wasn't for them today… I am so grateful... we never get this kind of thing, because why, as a country and all over the world, they don't get it."
Another resident, Neestashia Walters, wants more events like this across the country, and more often.
"I feel that there should be events like this should be held, I don't know, every three to six months, because, yeah for rangatahi it's huge...you could bring all your whanau down to have a check-up."
In Waikato, only 37.9 percent of eligible pēpi aged six months have been fully immunised.
Māori health advocate Lady Tureiti Moxon said children must be protected, and prevention was better than cure.
"If you've ever seen a baby with measles, if you've ever seen a baby with whooping cough, if you've ever seen a baby that's struggling to breathe, you know, it is better to have them immunised than have to deal with when they are actually in hospital."
She said immunisation rates among the community have dropped due to the focus on Covid-19 vaccinations over the last couple of years.
"We did fall behind simply because all of our concentration was on Covid and on the vaccinations, so we were trying to keep our people well right across the country, so that did fall behind and we've got to really push hard."
As well as get rates up, the immunisation drive was also used to conduct research about how to best roll out lung screening for Māori.
The project was being run by Dr Ross Lawrenson from Waikato University. It was a precursor to assist Te Kōhao Health in the planning of service delivery at its Wellness and Diagnostic Centre in Hamilton.
He said the issue needed to be a priority.
"There is huge inequities around lung cancer. Māori have three to four times the mortality from lung cancer when compared with pākeha, so it's a really key issue for Māori health."
The Wellness and Diagnostic Centre is set to be completed next year.