Labour is re-promising to lift the age of eligibility for free breast cancer screening, just a few months after saying there weren’t enough health workers for the expansion to go ahead.
Labour leader Chris Hipkins and the party’s women’s caucus delivered their pitch to women on Sunday, including the promise of extended breast screening.
This is a 2017 Labour and NZ First coalition commitment, which hasn’t been actioned despite calls from the Opposition and Breast Cancer Foundation.
On Sunday, Labour women’s spokesperson said the party would raise the free screening age to 74 years old. Currently, breast screening is only provided for free to women aged 45 to years old.
In 2016, Labour MP Jacinda Ardern accepted a petition to raise extended the screening service. Another petition was launched in 2021, and picked up National Party health spokesperson Shane Reti who has introduced a private members’ bill to raise the age of eligibility.
In March, the Government responded to the petition saying there weren’t enough radiologists and medical imaging technologists to extend the service. It also said ICT issues at Breast Screen Aotearoa were a barrier to increasing eligibility.
Associate Health Minister Willow-Jean Prime said the previous extension to the breast screening age had led to equity issues in the programme, with fewer Māori and Pasifika women being screened.
“We are continuing to work through to meet the target for screening 70% of wāhine Māori and Pasifika women,” she said.
Kelly Hodel/Waikato Times
The Labour Party is discussing its commitments to women this election. (file photo)
Other Labour commitments to women
Also on Sunday, during a campaign event focused on Labour’s mainfesto commitments for women, the party highlighted its work to modernise consent laws and introduce gender pay gap reporting.
In August, Tinetti and Diversity and Inclusion Minister Priyanca Radhakrishnan said they planned to introduce a bill next year – if re-elected – requiring large companies to publicly report and monitor gender pay gaps.
ACT leader David Seymour said the proposal was more “red tape”, which he didn’t support. The National Party indicated support for the plan.
The proposal would see every company with more than 250 staff required to publicly report its internal gender pay gap.
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September 17, 2023 at 08:57AM
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