Day 2 | Session 3| Concurrent | Working towards elimination of cervical cancer for all

Turning the tide: eliminating cervical cancer 

Cervical cancer is now preventable. We need to think and act across the whole clinical pathway, from vaccination to screening to diagnosis and to treatment. Dr Tania Slater will talk about flipping the narrative and Prof Lawton will address the collective action steps needed to eliminate the burden of HPV disease. 

Professor Bev Lawton ONZM (Ngāti Porou)
Founder/Director
Te Tātai Hauora o Hine (National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa)
Victoria University of Wellington

Professor Bev Lawton is an internationally recognised expert in women’s health and the founder/director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine (National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa) at Victoria University of Wellington. Her research addresses health inequities with a focus on maternal health for wāhine Māori, and the goal of eliminating cervical cancer. 

Professor Lawton has received numerous recognitions, including the RANZCOG Māori Women’s Health Award, the HRC Beaven Medal, and the Maarire Goodall Award. Professor Lawton co-chairs the International Alliance for Perinatal and Reproductive Justice and the International Indigenous HPV Alliance.

Dr Tania Slater (Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi)
Senior Research Fellow
Te Tātai Hauora o Hine (National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa)
Victoria University of Wellington

Tania Slater nō Ngāti Kahu, Ngāpuhi is a senior research fellow at Te Tātai Hauora o Hine National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa at Te Herenga Waka, Victoria University of Wellington. 

The focus of Tania’s work is equitable health outcomes for whānau Māori and this has spanned cancer prevention, screening, detection, diagnosis, treatment and palliative care. Tania has worked across academia, government, NGO and private sectors. 

Her PhD research explored the role and potential of community care for Māori with cancer. She has built on this work project managing an implementation trial of HPV self-testing in Te Taitokerau.

Breaking down the barriers to colposcopy: community co-located colposcopy clinics

Community co-located colposcopy clinics have been established in Te Whanganui a Tara at an urban marae and Kaupapa Māori General Practices, aiming to increase access and facilitate colposcopy attendance. Wāhine and whānau experiences are central to clinic design.

Dr Judy Ormandy
Senior Clinical Lecturer, University of Otago, Wellington
Obstetrician and Gynaecologist, Wellington Hospital

Judy is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Otago, Wellington and Obstetrician and Gynaecologist at Wellington Hospital. She has a Masters in Clinical Education and her Masters thesis evaluated medical student and midwifery interactions on the birthing suite. 

Judy is the Lead Investigator on a $1.4 million Health Research Council Project Implementation Grant for the development and evaluation of  community co-located clinics across the Wellington region.

Outside of work, Judy is a keen scuba diver and award winning underwater photographer.

Te waka wahine hauora - the woman's health bus, the next stage in the story

Achieving the goal of 70% of women screened using a high-performance test by the age of 35, and again by the age of 45; and 90% of women with pre-cancer treated and 90% of women with invasive cancer managed for all groups in Aotearoa is going to require some outside of hospital approaches.

Te Waka Wahine Hauora The Woman's Health Bus is trying to take care to the community to breakdown barriers. 

We will be presenting the next stage of this story with the use of point of care HPV and offer of same day colposcopy 


Dr Helen Paterson
Acting Head, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women's Health Oranga Wahine
Dunedin School of Medicine

Helen is a mountain biker and a skier and in her spare time she runs the Woman's Health Bus and is Acting Head for the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women's Health Oranga Wāhine in the Dunedin School of Medicine. She is also a later surgical abortion provider.