May 2015: Māori women are falling well behind with having a cervical smear and Korowai Aroha wants your opinion as to why?

• Why do you put off or not have your cervical smear when it is due?
• Why do you think your friends and whānau avoid having a cervical smear?

Please take 30 seconds to answer these questions and help us tautoko wāhine to getting the support they need to have this done.

Click here to take the survey

About Cervical Screening

All women are advised to have a smear test every 3 years from the time they turn 20 until they turn 70 if they have ever been sexually active.

What happens during the test?

• Having a smear only takes a few minutes.
• Some women may find it uncomfortable but most are fine.
• A few cells will be collected from your cervix (the neck of the womb) and then placed into a liquid solution that preserves the cells for testing. The test looks for abnormal cells.
• Any abnormal cells will then be treated to stop them from progressing further.

Korowai Aroha offers free cervical screening for their enrolled patients. If you would like to know more contact them via their website www.korowai.org.nz