Pink camper hits the road
A new-look pink Breast Cancer Foundation NZ Pink Campervan is hitting the streets of New Zealand’s South Island on its inaugural tour.
The charity is looking to raise $600,000 to fund a new Pink Caravan, including the build and operating costs for the first two years, says chief executive Ah-Leen Rayner.
The caravan has been travelling the country since 2014 with breast nurses on board, educating women about the signs and symptoms of breast cancer, family risk and the importance of mammograms and selfchecking.
The current caravan, affectionately known as Pinkie, relies on volunteers to tow it around, restricting the timing and location of visits.
“This new vehicle will mean we’re no longer reliant on volunteers to tow the old caravan, giving our nurses the ability to access more remote locations and be more flexible with the timing and frequency of their visits,” Rayner told Rural News.
She says it is harder for women in rural communities to attend breast screenings.
“They may have to travel long distances to get to a screening clinic or are reliant on visits from the mammogram bus that may not be at a convenient time,” Rayner explains.
“Covid has made things worse – the screening programme was put on hold during lockdowns, and women who had their mammograms cancelled may not have rescheduled their missed mammogram,” she says.
The BreastScreen Aotearoa Coverage Report, released in September 2022, revealed breast screens dropped by over 17,000 between October 2020 and October 2021.
Earlier this year, the BCFNZ reported that approximately 50,000 women across the country were overdue for their mammograms, partially due to disruption caused by Covid-19 lockdowns.
Rayner says the charity now estimates that figure has dropped to 30,000 women.
“For the past year we’ve been campaigning hard to make sure the Government acts quickly to clear the mammogram backlog and we’re being assured screening providers have extended their hours to put on extra clinics and enlisted the help of private clinics to catch up,” she says. “But there are still around 30,000 women who are overdue their mammograms, which is why we’re doing all that we can to encourage more women to get back to screening.”
Rayner warns that a delayed diagnosis could reduce the chances of surviving breast cancer.
“Screening mammograms detect tumours when they are small and easily treatable, giving you a much higher chance of survival,” she adds.
In 2020 and 2021, the BCFNZ Pink Caravan travelled to more than 160 towns and sites across New Zealand. It allowed BCFNZ nurses to address the questions and concerns of more than 6,000 people and enrol an average of ten women per week on average with their local BreastScreen Aotearoa provider.
Donations towards the new Pink Campervan can be made at: www.breastcancerfoundation.org.nz
