A hands-on educational programme aiming to raise awareness of the signs of breast cancer starts a nationwide tour in Kaitaia - in an old-fashioned pink caravan.
The NZ Breast Cancer Foundation is taking its retro caravan around small-town New Zealand, from Kaitaia to Bluff, with two specialist breast-care nurses on board from tomorrow.
The idea is to give Kiwi women a chance to learn the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, to understand their family and lifestyle risk factors, and to know what to do if they have any worries.
Far North women, and men, will be the first in the country to be able to pop into the caravan with their questions. The nurses will also offer education to GPs and practice nurses, and help women who have had breast cancer monitor their risk of lymphoedema, a painful and debilitating condition that can occur many years after breast cancer surgery.
The caravan will have hands-on displays of breast cancer symptoms and prosthetic breasts will show women what a lump feels like. The caravan will even have male prosthetic breasts on board - breast cancer in men is rare but it does happen. Volunteers from the NZ Motor Caravan Association will take turns to tow the caravan around the country.
Nurse Chrissy Taylor Smith said she was excited to be part of an important project and was especially pleased to be taking part in the first leg through the Far North. "More than 130 Northland women will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year. The earlier they are diagnosed, the better the outcome, so we will be advising on screening and how to look out for the full range of breast cancer symptoms."
Fellow nurse Gill Mockford said breast screening uptake in Northland was good overall.
The pink caravan will be outside Shackleton's Pharmacy in Kaitaia tomorrow, outside Kerikeri's New World supermarket on Thursday, and at Kaikohe's New World supermarket on Friday.