Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa supports extending the zero-fees HPV screening to priority groups

Free screening for priority groups was announced when the new HPV screening programme was introduced in September 2023.  
 
This week the Government announced the free screening will continue for all women, and people with a cervix who are un-screened or under-screened, all wāhine and whānau with a cervix who are Māori and Pacific, those who hold a community services card (CSC), and anyone who requires follow-up testing.   
 
“We know that cost can be a financial barrier to access health care,” Dr Tania Huria says.  
 
“The new HPV screening test has been a game changer in addressing inequities in cervical screening. It is a test that wāhine can take themselves. A test that can lead to early detection of cervical cancer. The continuation of funding for free HPV screening for priority groups will save lives.  
   
“We know that some of our Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa clients are in financial positions where they prioritise the needs of their whānau over their own health needs. Free HPV screening for priority groups means that for those clients they can make appointments and stay well."

Nurse Practitioner Julie Avery says the new HPV test is one of the most significant advances in sexual health care in the 17 years she’s been working in sexual and reproductive health.  
 
“I’ve spent time working as a colposcopist and am sadly all too familiar with cervical cancer that is diagnosed late, and the implications for the lives of women, and their families. As a nurse practitioner working in sexual and reproductive health I am so pleased to see this funding continue – it’s life-changing, and life-saving.”  

Dr Tania Huria (Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Mutunga ki Wharekauri) is the Director of Hauora Māori and Equity at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa, and a Hon Associate Professor at the Māori Indigenous Health Innovation Department, Ōtakou Whakaihu Waka (The University of Otago, Christchurch). Tania has been involved in research and teaching with a focus on addressing Māori health inequities for 17 years. The findings of Tania’s PhD thesis have led to the design and development of the CONSIDER statement “the Consolidated criteria for strengthening reporting of health research involving Indigenous Peoples”. Tania sees her role at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa as an opportunity to advocate for reproductive justice, and sexual and reproductive equity in Aotearoa.  
 
Julie Avery is a Nurse Practitioner, and Director of Nursing at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa. She has worked across the field of sexual and reproductive health for many years, and is particularly passionate about cervical screening having worked as a nurse colposcopist. Julie sees her role at Sexual Wellbeing Aotearoa as an opportunity to advance nursing practice to ensure that all clients have access to expert level sexual and reproductive health care across Aotearoa.