Smear Your Mea: Charitable trust to meet with Māori Affairs select committee

RGP 25Apr18 - Talei Morrison is "determined to progress forward in a positive manner". RGP 07Jun18 - NZH 17Jun18 - RGP 18Jun18 - RGP 21Jun18 - Talei Morrison. Photo / Supplied

The Smear Your Mea Charitable Trust will meet with the Māori Affairs select committee today, the same day as the late founder Talei Morrison's birthday.

The trust will provide recommendations regarding the cancer journey as part of the inquiry into health inequities for Māori.

The #SmearYourMea Charitable Trust (SYM) was established in late 2017 to continue Talei
Morrison's legacy.

Talei Roimata Morrison, a renowned kapa haka performer from Rotorua, died on June 16 last year, at age 42.

In her final nine months of life, Morrison led an Aotearoa-wide cervical screening awareness campaign targeting Māori women.

RGP 25Apr18 - Talei Morrison is "determined to progress forward in a positive manner". RGP 07Jun18 - NZH 17Jun18 - RGP 18Jun18 - RGP 21Jun18 - Talei Morrison. Photo / Supplied

She had her last smear in 2008, and due to the distressing experience, she did not return to have one again until her diagnosis.

The #SmearYourMea Charitable Trust was established to continue to educate and change the attitude towards smears, working with health providers to promote free and accessible screening.

The meeting will take place at Fickling Convention Centre in Auckland between 1.40pm and 2pm.

There was a Smear Your Mea gathering at the Village Green earlier this year. Photo / File

SYM Trustee Eruera Keepa said this was an opportunity to make an impact and effect change in current health policies.

"We believe that Talei's story and experience can broadly respond to the intent of the inquiry as we strongly maintain that Talei was failed by the primary health care framework as it currently operates."

Talei passed away from cervical cancer because of late detection, said Eruera.