WELLINGTON, Sept 1 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Cervical screening will be free for all eligible women aged 25 to 69 in New Zealand from March 1, 2027, Xinhua reported the government saying on Tuesday.
Health Minister Simeon Brown said in a statement that an estimated 786,000 additional women would become eligible for free cervical screening under the policy.
Currently, about 55 percent of women eligible for cervical screening have to pay for an appointment, which can cost from NZD35 to more than 100 NZ dollars (about US$21 to more than US$59), the government said.
Cervical cancer is one of the most preventable cancers, the statement said, noting that almost every case is caused by HPV, a common virus that the screening test can detect long before cancer develops.
When cervical cancer is detected early, about 91 percent of women survive, but survival rate falls to around 19 per cent once the disease has spread.
Minister for Women Nicola Grigg also released the New Zealand Cervical Cancer Elimination Plan 2026-2040, which aims to reduce the incidence of cervical cancer to fewer than four cases per 100,000 women a year across all population groups by 2040.
The plan sets targets for 80 per cent of women to be up to date with screening by 2030 and for 90 per cent of young people to have received their first dose of HPV vaccine by age 15 by 2035.
-- NNN-BERNAMA-XINHUA