Ah-Leen Rayner: Breast Cancer Foundation Chief Executive on mammogram accessibility

Green Party Co-leader Marama Davidson says she's feeling grateful that her breast cancer will be treated - and she has the care and support to focus on it. 

Davidson will work up until Matariki, before a partial mastectomy next month and further treatment. 

Breast Cancer Foundation Chief Executive Ah-Leen Rayner told Heather du Plessis-Allan “We take it for granted in metropolitan areas that screening is readily accessible.” 

Rayner said that for people living rurally - if you miss mobile-unit screenings, some may have to travel up to three hours. 

She said "It's not equitable in terms of access."

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Here the dupluicy Ellen.

Speaker 2 (00:02):
Our Green Party co leader Madama Davidson has today announced
she's got breast cancer. She says the cancer was detected
early earlier, but she is going to need a partial
mistake to me and then she's going to need to
take some time off work. She also sees she's kept
up with her testing religiously ever since attending a breast
cancer fundraising breakfast a couple of years back.

Speaker 3 (00:19):
And was actually there at the breakfast table that other
survivors really impressed upon me that I was late to
have my mammogram, and I want to thank them because
I got into the breast screening program because of their insistence.

Speaker 2 (00:36):
She also says she wants cancer screenings to be more
widely available.

Speaker 3 (00:39):
All of our health programs and our screening programs do
not are not effective in every community the way that
they need to be.

Speaker 2 (00:49):
Arleen Rainer is chief executive of the Breast Cancer Foundation.
Hi Aleen, Hi, how are you doing well? Thank you?
Were you at that breakfast a couple of years ago?

Speaker 1 (00:57):
I was at that breakfast a couple of years ago.

Speaker 2 (00:59):
Were you part of that conversation?

Speaker 1 (01:02):
I wasn't at Madamore's table but Matima was there, she
had a photo taken about screening. So at that stage
we were campaigning for the screening age to be raised
to seventy four and to clear the backlog of COVID
screening since the COVID backlog.

Speaker 2 (01:18):
Is she right to say that not everyone can access
testing services easily?

Speaker 1 (01:23):
That's correct. We take it for granted in major metropolitan
areas that screening is readily accessible. If you're regionally or
located at hard to reach places. Breastcreen art Hedoa provided
mobile units that service screening. But if you miss those
times in terms of screening times where those mobile units

(01:45):
are available in their community, what that means is you'll
have to travel. And so for some people that could
be a three hour trip there and it could be
a three hour trip back. So it is not equitable
in terms of access, and we know that, which is
why they're into place to look at what we can
do to support.

Speaker 2 (02:03):
Do you expect that there will be an uptick in
women who get their boobs checked as a result.

Speaker 1 (02:08):
I sincerely hopeful of that because Madama has been exceptionally
courageous talking about her diagnosis. Anyone that brings attention to
breast cancer and the early detection and mammogram screening is
so important because early detection is what makes the chances
of surviving breast cancer so much higher.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
Yeah. Absolutely, Arleen, thank you so much. I really appreciate Hi. Mate.
That's Arleen Rayner, Breast Cancer Foundation, Chief Executive. For more from.

Speaker 1 (02:36):
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