The Prime Minister is under fire after claiming the health system is keeping up with cancer diagnoses despite COVID-19 disruptions.
Speaking with AM on Monday Jacinda Ardern said cancer diagnoses are meeting expectations - but those working on the frontline disagree.
"What they are saying at this point is that diagnoses appear to be keeping pace with what we have seen in the past," Ardern said. "In terms of screening there's a mixture of whether or not people were coming and accessing it and its availability. I want to go away and just double check on that because the Cancer Control Agency again has highlighted that, with the exception of August last year, it has been keeping pace with what we would expect."
But the Breast Cancer Foundation says that's not true and 300 women could have cancer but not know due to delays.
"We strongly disagree [with Ardern]," CEO Ah-Leen Rayner told AM on Wednesday.
"We've been writing to the Government for over six months now… What we know is the Breast Screening Aotearoa system was under pressure pre-COVID, but post-COVID we now know that there are 50,000 women overdue for their screening mammogram and what this means, purely on the numbers, of those 50,000 women, we estimate 300 could have cancer."
Rayner said the backlog delays lifesaving treatment and could have devastating consequences.
"Breast cancer is entirely treatable if it is found early which is why screening mammograms are so important."
She said New Zealand is "years behind" where it needs to be with screening and an additional 1000 mammograms are required each week just to catch up.
"Women know that mammograms save lives so it's essential that the Government invests to clear this backlog."
Rayner says she cannot understand why the Prime Minister seems unaware of the issue when they have access to the same data.
"The data that we have is based directly from the National Screening Unit which sits inside the Ministry [of Health].
"We have been communicating where the data is at for over the last six months. We've met with ministers, we've requested information, we want to be part of the solution here…but what we have to do is have a clear commitment to clearing the screening backlog."
The COVID lockdowns had huge impacts on screening and significant work is needed to clear the backlog, Rayner said.
Rayner said there are also delays between diagnosis and surgery, which can be deadly.
"Sixty percent of women aren't getting surgery within the targeted 31 days of diagnosis. For many this won't be a problem but for some, it's not until the first surgery that the full extent of the breast cancer is known so it's incredibly important that women get their surgery within the targeted 31 days."
And Rayner isn't alone in voicing concern. Several women wrote into AM sharing their experiences with delayed mammograms.
One woman said her GP told her she was overdue for a mammogram but when she tried to get one she was told despite being overdue she would have to wait.
Another woman said her routine mammogram has been delayed and a man said his partner recently found lumps in her breast but can't get a mammogram until the end of May. The woman already had breast cancer three to four years ago. However a woman based in Timaru said she just went for her regular check-up which wasn't delayed.
