Explainer
– Green Party co-leader Marama Davidson has been diagnosed
with breast cancer – and thanks to New Zealand’s breast
screening programme, it’s been caught early.
Davidson
said regular mammogram screenings had given her “the best
odds of getting rid of it” and urged other women to get
screened.
If her news has prompted you to get
screened, here’s everything you need to know before you
go.
It’s free
BreastScreen Aotearoa is New
Zealand’s free national breast screening programme for women
aged between 45 and 69. This will soon be extended to
74.
To make an appointment, all you need to do is
freephone BreastScreen Aotearoa on 0800 270 200 and they’ll
schedule you in for a mammogram. Screenings are free every
two years, all the way through the eligible age
range.
It’s accessible
Regional access to
breast screening works a little differently to the main
centres. Mobile units will regularly go out to serve rural
communities and remain there, on average, for a couple
weeks. This means you have to book your mammogram in for the
time those units are there.
How it works
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When
you go for your breast screening, the mammographer will give
you a gown to wear. You might be partially nude, but it’s a
respectful process. Your breast will be laid onto a
mammogram machine and placed between two compression
paddles. Once one breast is done, the other one is done
exactly the same way.
It’s slightly uncomfortable,
but fast
“It’s not painful, but it can be
uncomfortable,” Breast Cancer Foundation NZ chief executive
Ah-lee Rayner says.
“All in all, it probably takes
five minutes, and that five minutes can save your life.
Women go through so many things that are far more
uncomfortable than getting a mammogram. We recommend getting
in there, seeing that it’s not painful in any way, shape, or
form, and getting that booking done.”
It can save
your life
“Early detection is the best means of
surviving breast cancer,” Rayner says.
“If
you miss your appointment and you’re due for a mammogram,
you really should travel to your nearest provider to get it
done.”
Women have a 95 percent chance of surviving
breast cancer five years or longer if the cancer is detected
by a mammogram.
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