Bev Lawton's work on human papillomavirus and cervical cancer has been groundbreaking.
Bev Lawton's work on human papillomavirus and cervical cancer has been groundbreaking.
Professor Bev Lawton ONZM has been named the 2025 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year.
A pioneering force in women’s health, her work on human papillomavirus and cervical cancer has helped save lives.
She is the founder and director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine - the National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa.
Professor Bev Lawton says eliminating cervical cancer is “within our grasp” and the day New Zealand decides to commit to and invest in that will be the day she is very happy.
“It could be tomorrow. I hope you’re listening, Minister of Health and Prime Minister,”she prods in an exclusive interview with the Herald.
Lawton was named the 2025 Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year at a gala ceremony in Auckland tonight.
She is a pioneering force in women’s health. Her work on human papillomavirus (HPV) and cervical cancer has been groundbreaking and she has driven critical advancements in indigenous health equality.
When Lawton went to medical school, it was not known that a virus caused cervical cancer. No one talked about menopause.
Early on in her 17 years working as a general practitioner (GP), a patient came to see Lawton about having night sweats and generally feeling awful like “she was going out of her mind”.
Lawton ordered blood tests. She also consulted a colleague who said they were menopause symptoms and suggested prescribing hormone medication.
Bev Lawton is the founder and director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine, the National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa, at Victoria University of Wellington.
Lawton saw the patient a few months later, noting that she had not asked for more medication.
“She said to me: ‘I just wanted to know what it was. My sister’s got cancer and I thought it was cancer and I was dying'.”
Lawton said this served as a lesson that information is power.
“It’s about giving information and a woman deciding what she wants to do - evidence-based information in a culturally appropriate manner.”
She went on to co-found the Wellington Menopause Clinic which provides women with comprehensive care and support.
As a GP, Lawton also directly witnessed the inequalities women encounter within the healthcare system.
“We’re sort of second-class citizens and third-class if you’re Māori and a woman.
“All these things became obvious when you’d send someone to a hospital, maybe with the same cardiac symptoms, and the white lawyer got different treatment than the person who was brown.”
Lawton realised there were questions which needed answering.
Why are we not eliminating cervical cancer?
Why are perinatal mortality rates higher for Māori and Pacific people?
She went on to found and is the director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine, the National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa, at Victoria University of Wellington.
Lawton has a long-standing commitment to evidence-based change.
Her excitement is palpable when she speaks about the science being used to transform the system, like the HPV vaccine which started in New Zealand in 2008.
Lawton played a key role in the HPV vaccine rollout, leading consultation with Māori to introduce it into schools.
“If we can get rid of polio, why don’t we get rid of HPV by vaccinating and getting rid of the harm it does?”
Lawton’s advocacy has also led to New Zealand’s historic shift to HPV self-testing as the primary method for cervical screening used to identify abnormal cells in the cervix that could potentially become cancerous.
Aotearoa is the first high-income country to do this.
In most cases, the self-test replaces the need for a speculum examination (known as a pap smear) as part of cervical screening. The HPV test can be done as a simple vaginal swab.
Lawton carries a self-test everywhere with her.
“I’ve been waving that swab at audiences forever.”
Professor Bev Lawton holding the HPV self-test.
Whenever she speaks to large audiences, Lawton asks whether the women in the room would prefer a speculum or a swab.
“Whoever they are, Māori or non-Māori, they much prefer to take control and they don’t want to have a speculum if they don’t need to.”
Women prefer the self-test because it’s empowering, Lawton said.
“The narrative has completely flipped because they can do the test themselves. It’s empowering, it’s a self-test, they like it and they feel they’re in control of it and they go and tell their families.”
Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora data shows more than 560,000 primary screenings have been completed between September 2023 and January 2025.
Of these, 81.2% opted for the self-test and 18% were individuals who were previously unscreened or underscreened.
It’s not screening to find cancer, it’s screening to prevent cancer, Lawton said.
The vaccine and the self-test provided the opportunity to eliminate cervical cancer in New Zealand, she said.
One of the consultants Lawton works with said cervical cancer should be considered a serious adverse event.
“A serious adverse event in a hospital means it shouldn’t have happened and we should sit down and find the history behind it because it’s something that’s preventable,” Lawton said.
The Government needs to invest in a cervical cancer elimination strategy, she said.
“The day we decide as a country that we’re going to eliminate cervical cancer and invest in it will be the day I’ll be very happy.”
She added: “I think we just need to do it. I think women in New Zealand need to stand up behind the Prime Minister or Minister of Health and say: ‘We’re behind you'.”
Advocating for an elimination strategy remains a key focus for Lawton going forward.
She also wants to continue looking for disruption points in clinical pathways for other diseases like uterine cancer and congenital syphilis.
“There’s a lot of things that we can do and I think there’s a lot of women out there who are realising that there are things that can be better and that they can jump on [the waka] and help out.”
Lawton is not one for the limelight but said she felt privileged to be a finalist for Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year Ngā Tohu Pou Kōhure o Aotearoa.
She credited her team and the “cast of thousands” she works with.
“I’ve learned a lot about how to work in the community, how to partner and we’re not the senior partner ... the community is.”
Georgina Campbell is a Wellington-based reporter who has a particular interest in local government, transport, and seismic issues. She joined the Herald in 2019 after working as a broadcast journalist.
