For most women, cervical screening can be an awkward but necessary test.
Yet for First Nations women, additional barriers, such as a lack of access to culturally safe care and stigma, are leading to lower screening rates, putting them at a higher risk of developing cervical cancer.
For the past 20 years Dr Marilyn Clarke has worked on Gumbaynggirr Country as an obstetrician and gynaecologist.
She's seen the impacts of low screening rates firsthand.
"It can be an entirely preventable disease with good screening and treatment pathways," Dr Clarke told NITV.
"Australia is one of the world leaders in the area ... but unfortunately for First Nations women, we are not seeing the same result," she said.
Mortality rates nearly four times higher
The rate of cervical cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in Australia is more than double the rate among non-Indigenous women.
The mortality rate for First Nations women is nearly four times higher.
Cultural barriers, lack of awareness, logistical challenges, and historical and systemic issues contribute to under-screening and late detection of pre-cancerous lesions, representing a system failure for Aboriginal women.
Additional barriers include remoteness, socioeconomic disadvantage, and the need for culturally safe healthcare services.
New initiative to tackle disparity
Dr Marilyn Clarke hopes to see those statistics change for the better.
SISTASCREEN is a co-designed strategy being developed which aims to increase cervical screening rates by offering the test during routine antenatal checkups at Aboriginal-led health services.
“Antenatal visits at their local Aboriginal community-controlled health service is an opportune time to engage First Nations women in cervical screening in a way which ensures culturally safety and empowerment," Dr Clarke said.
The project is set to be led by Southern Cross University in partnership with the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), with $2.4 million in funding over three-years from the federal government through Cancer Australia.
"It's really important that any healthcare intervention, or strategy or screening program, involves First Nations people from the ground up," Dr Clarke said.
The project will see six "early adopter" sites established from the outset: the first is the Bullinah Aboriginal Health Service in Ballina on the New South Wales Coast.
Its goal is to establish 50 sites at Aboriginal community controlled health organisations across the country over the next three years.
A welcomed step forward
NACCHO CEO Pat Turner AM has welcomed the partnership.
“For too long, our women have faced barriers to lifesaving screening and care, barriers rooted in systems that weren’t designed for us, by us," Ms Turner said.
"We cannot eliminate cervical cancer in Australia while Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women continue to be left behind."
Arrernte and Gurdanji woman Pat Turner is the CEO of NACCHO and the Lead Convener of the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations. Source: AAP
“SISTASCREEN is about more than closing a gap in statistics,” Ms Turner said.
"It’s about putting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women at the centre of solutions, embedding screening and care within our own health services, led by our own workforce, in a way that is culturally safe and empowering.
“This project gives us the chance to reach women at a critical moment in their lives, while they are pregnant and engaging with antenatal care, so that we can support their health and well-being, now and into the future."
