NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Labour MP Kiri Allan praised by Cancer Society - specialists say NZ urgently needs to change screening method

Emma Russell
By Emma Russell
Multimedia Journalist·NZ Herald·
5 Apr, 2021 10:43 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Labour MP and Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan. Photo / Kiri Allan, Facebook

Labour MP and Minister of Conservation Kiri Allan. Photo / Kiri Allan, Facebook

The Cancer Society is praising Labour MP Kiri Allan for bravely speaking out about her cervical cancer diagnosis and encouraging women to get regular screening.

But a gynaecological oncologist told the Herald it was a reminder that New Zealand urgently needed to change its method of screening cervical cancer to catch those most at risk.

Dr Ai Ling Tan said usually when patients saw her with advanced cervical cancer they hadn't been screened for a number of reasons.

"Cultural barriers is a massive issue ... some might have always put their family first or had a bad experience or been raped, or abused. You don't know how many people who have had that experience. They don't share that until after they get cancer."

Tan said New Zealand desperately needed to introduce HPV primary screening which was less uncomfortable and meant women could test themselves.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The testing was recommended by the World Health Organisation and had been adopted by many other countries including Australia, she said.

Tan said 50 per cent of patients with cervical cancer had not been screened.

"We need to acknowledge the difference in culture and speak the same language, speak their language, not our language."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Cancer Society's Dr Rachel Nicholls echoed Tan's comments adding that HPV screening tests were meant to be replacing the existing smear test but this had been delayed for another few years.

"This still requires sampling in the same way but it is a more effective test. It will reduce the testing requirements to once every five years for most women."

"We know that cervical cancer can be eliminated," Nicholls said.

The society also pointed to a 2019 Victoria University study which found whakamā (embarrassment/shyness/reticence), lack of time and fear of discomfort and pain were the most common reasons for not attending regular cervical screening.

For now, Nichollas said: "Having a routine smear is one of the most important things you can do to prevent or find cervical cancer early".

The #smearurmea campaign was also trending on social media with many sharing messages of support to Allan while urging women to keep up to date with their screening checks.

Today @KiriAllan told us all she’s been diagnosed with cervical cancer. Please, if you have a cervix, get it checked. Far too often, women are too busy putting everyone else first & put their own needs last. So, in honour of an incredible wahine #SmearYourMea https://t.co/Uqw3fuMA1b

— Dr Siouxsie Wiles (@SiouxsieW) April 5, 2021

The Minister of Conservation revealed this morning that she was "one of those gals that hates anything to do with 'down there'. And have taken a 'see no evil, hear no evil' type approach to that part of my body."

Kiri Allan fronted a tsunami warning press conference on the day that hospital tests confirmed a 6cm tumour.
Kiri Allan fronted a tsunami warning press conference on the day that hospital tests confirmed a 6cm tumour.

Allan said her last smear test was when cervical cancer campaigner Talei Morrison led a Aotearoa-wide cervical screening awareness campaign targeting Māori women in 2018.

Morrison died at age 42 in June 2018 after being diagnosed with stage 4 cervical cancer.

Last year, during the election campaign, Allan noticed she was getting a lot of pain in her back, stomach and legs, she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"I put it down to lots of driving, working long hours and the general stress of campaigns etc - so, I got my partner to give me a few mirimiri and forgot about it.

"Earlier this year, I realised I was finding it hard to sit for a lengthy period of time. Always in a bit of pain. I started running to try and move the lower back area a little bit. Nothing seemed to take the pain away."

She said she put off going to see a doctor, telling herself "that stuff usually sorts itself out".

But after four weeks, she said she went for a check-up at the GP, who put her on some medication.

"At about six weeks of menstruating with no change since the GP visit, I raised it with my colleague and friend Ayesha Verrall, who is a doctor, asking if the bleeding was a little odd.

"She asked a few more questions and I told her about the pain. She urged me, pleaded with me: 'Kiri, please, please, please prioritise this and go to the doctor tomorrow.'"

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

A 6cm tumour was discovered the day Allan fronted a nationally televised press conference on the latest tsunami warnings.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern confirmed this morning that Allan will undertake a leave of absence while she undergoes medical treatment.

Speaking to the media, Ardern said she found it "remarkable" that Allan was leading NZ through a Civil Defence emergency while dealing with her diagnosis.

"If only people knew what else she was dealing with."

About cervical cancer:

• Cervical cancer develops from the tissues of the cervix. The cervix is the lower part of the uterus that connects to the vagina.

• Each year about 160 women develop cervical cancer in New Zealand. Of those, about 50 die from the disease.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• Cervical screening is free in New Zealand every three years from the age of 25 to 69.

• The most common symptoms of cervical cancer is bleeding from the vagina at times other than when you are having a period, pain during sex, or in your pelvis.

Who can give me a Cervical Screening Test?

You can get a Cervical Screening done by a doctor or nurse at a:

• General practice (GP)

• Family planning clinic

• Sexual health clinic

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

• Community health clinic

• Women's health centre

For more information click here.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

New Four Square and shops planned for Taradale town centre

12 Jul 06:00 PM
New Zealand

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

12 Jul 05:59 PM
Premium
Auckland

'Negligent': First mother-baby HIV cases diagnosed in NZ in 20 years

12 Jul 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

New Four Square and shops planned for Taradale town centre

New Four Square and shops planned for Taradale town centre

12 Jul 06:00 PM

The existing Taradale Four Square would be demolished and rebuilt under the proposal.

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

‘Still there’: Removal of logging machine sent tumbling over cliff proving tricky

12 Jul 05:59 PM
Premium
'Negligent': First mother-baby HIV cases diagnosed in NZ in 20 years

'Negligent': First mother-baby HIV cases diagnosed in NZ in 20 years

12 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Editorial: Using immigration as a primary tool to drive economic growth is risky business

Editorial: Using immigration as a primary tool to drive economic growth is risky business

12 Jul 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP