Welcome to our new series, The Cancer Diaries, brought to you by the Cancer Society. With 1 in 3 Kiwis diagnosed with cancer in their lifetimes, the ripple effect of a cancer diagnosis spreads far and wide across Aotearoa. Over the next few months, we are going to bring you a range of stories from people who are affected by cancer: those who have dedicated their life’s work to fighting cancer, those currently living with cancer, those who have lost their most precious loved ones to cancer and those who have recovered and are now experiencing the second act that comes with surviving one of the hardest experiences a person can have. First up, we look at the goal to end cervical cancer in NZ: with such a global push to end it, and a known attack plan that works, why isn’t this being prioritised by our government?
Capsule x Cancer Society
When speaking to Professor Bev Lawton, founder/director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine (the National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa), about the possibility of ending cervical cancer in our lifetimes, one thing immediately becomes clear: the tremendous sense of urgency she feels. “We need to do this, we need to get this done,” is the phrase that comes up, over and over again, in discussing the human papillomavirus (HPV) and its proven link to cervical cancer.
“I don’t think there is any argument about us doing this. We need to do this. We need a plan. It’s just not prioritised and the funding’s not there. We need the Government to prioritise this as it is very, very important.”
“I think if you ask every whānau, every woman and their partners, they don’t want them to get cervical cancer. Many, many people in Aotearoa New Zealand have been touched by this preventable disease. It’s now preventable, it didn’t use to be. I think now we know this – it’s a clear message that’s gone round the world and Aotearoa/New Zealand is behind.”
Bev is one of the key figures leading the charge for ending cervical cancer in New Zealand and has just become a finalist for New Zealander of the Year for her life-saving work, alongside Dame Lisa Carrington and Sarah Hirini. The possibility of Aotearoa becoming a place where cervical cancer no longer exists is within our grasp, it just needs money and attention, Bev says.
“I don’t think there is any argument about us doing this. We need to do this. We need a plan. It’s just not prioritised and the funding’s not there. We need the Government to prioritise this as it is very, very important.”
The evidence is so strong that the HPV vaccination can prevent cervical cancer that the World Health Organization is calling for increased vaccination rates as part of its worldwide push to eliminate cervical cancer as a public health problem. And yet, Bev says, that global understanding has still not shifted the needle in Aotearoa, where approximately 175 women develop cervical cancer and around 55 die from it each year.
That’s one of the reasons that the Cancer Society and its partners Te Tātai Hauora o Hine, Hei Āhuru Mōwai and The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists have introduced The Book That Ended Cancer, an online allegorical-like picture book to highlight just how close we are to this end goal.
“[The book] is really shouting out loud that we do not want our whānau to have this terrible disease. We know it is preventable now. We have the tools. And we should be demanding access to them – free screening, free treatment, we need a plan, we need the vaccination. So, I think shout out loud, show your support by signing the book and offering support to the campaign – we need to be saying this is important to us.”
Cervical cancer is one of the few cancers where we have a “complete picture” of what causes it, Bev says. “We’ve got three components that give us the ability to be able to eliminate it. We’ve got HPV vaccination to prevent it, then there’s the chance to pick up something before it becomes cancer (a pre-cancer) through screening, and if we get the cancer early enough we can treat it.”
And while HPV is most associated with cervical cancer by the general public, it’s not the only cancer risk. “It causes a lot of the throat cancers, the mouth cancers; it can cause anal cancer and vaginal cancer,” Bev says. “This is not a nice virus and we can vaccinate against it. And if you vaccinate against it you get cover against all those other cancers.”
One of the steps that we’ve taken in the right direction is the introduction of HPV self-testing, which Bev says is a world-leading initiative, and anyone with a cervix will tell you that getting to dodge a speculum is always a positive. “Women feel very empowered by doing their own test,” Bev says. “We know it’s been very successful, we know that uptake has gone up and we know that women reading this will know this has been a good thing for them, they’re taking control of it.”
“Young women are saying that this is our test, and they never said that about a speculum!”
No matter our age, Bev wants us all to be embracing the concept of prevention when it comes to our cervical health. That means HPV vaccination for young people by the age of 15, and screening with a self-test from the age of 25 on. “If you’ve got symptoms, you need to go and see your nurse or your doctor. That’s for any abnormal bleeding, pain or discharge – see your doctor as there can be lots of causes for symptoms most of which can easily treated. But if you don’t have symptoms and want to prevent having this cancer, you need to be screening.”
Leaning into the empowerment side of being proactive and being able to do your own test can really help shift the conversation, Bev says. “You should be talking about this and in a joyous way, to flip the narrative. We found this from our qualitative work – this is somewhere that you can control and just get it done.”
But individual power can only go so far – it’s time for the government to step in and make this achievable goal a priority for New Zealand women, Bev says. “We need vaccination and screening and we need a resourced plan. And it’s not going to cost a lot. The good thing about it is if you do it right it’s going to cost even less in the future, because we’re going to virtually, if not eliminate it completely, we’re going to come pretty close to zero.”
What would Bev tell our new Health Minister, Simeon Brown, about how important taking this next step is? “We are halfway there to a very good story,” she says. “We need a plan, we need resources, and we don’t need a lot of money. I’d really like to stand up with him and say we are announcing this plan for the women of Aotearoa New Zealand and their families. We’re almost there and we just need to get it done.”
Sign up for the Relay for Life here!
