Otago and Southland primary health organisation (PHO) WellSouth says partnering with local Māori and Pacific groups to run community screening events has seen a jump in rates among local Māori and Pacific communities.
Nationally, just under 40 per cent of Pacific women and 36 per cent of wāhine Māori were never screened or screened irregularly, according to National Cervical Screening Programme (NCSP) data.
Most — 85 per cent — of the 180 people who get cervical cancer in Aotearoa New Zealand every year, are those who have never been screened or not regularly.
Cervical cancer rates are also higher for wāhine Māori (15 per cent) and Pacific (12 per cent) than the overall rate (9 per cent), according to Te Whatu Ora.
But WellSouth — which holds the cervical screening contract for the two southern regions — says it has been working hard with Māori and Pacific providers to tackle the inequities.
It had partnered with community health providers and the NCSP to host a series of dedicated screening events over the past year, where people could get screened on the spot, or make appointments.
‘These aren’t just stats. These figures represent hundreds of our Pacific and Māori mums, sisters, aunties and daughters who are at risk of getting cervical cancer.’
Screening rates in Southland and Otago had risen from 50 to 61 per cent for Pacific participants and 58 to 64 per cent for Māori participants, as a result.
WellSouth pou haumanu Māori/clinical advisor Māori Miriama Ketu-McKenzie said the events appeared to have made a huge difference.
Not only did they make screening more accessible, they created the opportunity to connect with Māori and Pacific women, provide screening support and discuss health care.
The self-test, too, had been a “game-changer”, with 81 per cent of participating women choosing it since its launch in 2023, Ketu-McKenzie said.
The results were heartening — but more work was needed, she said.
“These aren’t just stats. These figures represent hundreds of our Pacific and Māori mums, sisters, aunties and daughters who are at risk of getting cervical cancer.”
Te Whatu Ora-Health New Zealand Southern cervical screening programme manager Deborah Kay-Corkin said she was “extremely pleased” and thanked health workers, including nurses in primary care and screening services, laboratory staff and colposcopy teams.
There was also a telehealth/mailout self-test service for those unable to access cervical screening in their community, she said.
Ketu-McKenzie said she hoped to see the gap continue to close.
“The goal of this mahi is to strengthen equity and access to cervical screening services across our communities, for priority populations.”
The figures showed the overall screening coverage continues to rise with 74.5 per cent of the eligible population screened nationally in July 2025, compared to 70 per cent in July 2024, she said.
