Blue Jackie: General Debate 
Blue Jackie: General Debate 
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Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 I am truly delighted to take part in this general debate. This month is October Breast Cancer Action Month. Yesterday I hosted a Rural Women New Zealand initiative called Let’s Get Plastered for Breast Cancer. Not surprisingly the title of the event captured everyone’s attention. Getting plastered was not about getting rolling drunk but rather about women and some men taking plaster casts of their chests and displaying them anonymously with the proceeds going to breast cancer. This was quite a fun event enjoyed by many but there was a very serious message behind it. Getting plastered is about promoting breast cancer awareness which is an important tool for all women of all age groups. It is important that women understand the normal breast changes and particularly changes in their breasts that persist. We are very fortunate to have a high-quality breast-screening programme—BreastScreen Aotearoa known as BSA for short—which targets women between the ages of 45 and 69 when the most benefit is seen. But we know mammograms are not perfect and there are cancers that appear between mammograms and indeed outside the screening age. That is why it is important that women get to know what their normal breast tissue is like and when changes persist act to see their doctor. 
Very importantly the Let’s Get Plastered event was about raising money for the New Zealand Breast Cancer Foundation. I acknowledge the vital work that the foundation does in breast cancer education and awareness. The fact is that this country needs a vibrant charitable and voluntary sector; without it quite frankly many of our support and social services would be next to impossible. So my congratulations go to the foundation for the work it does. 
Breast cancer is the most common cancer for New Zealand women and one of the leading causes of cancer-related death. Each year approximately 2600 women are diagnosed with this cancer with more than 650 dying of this disease each year. The Government is committed to improving the numbers of people affected by breast cancer as well as the survival rates. It is pleasing to know that the proportion of New Zealand women accessing BreastScreen Aotearoa continues to increase and it is particularly heartening to see that coverage rates for Maori and Pacific Island women where generally coverage is lower and survival statistics are poorer compared with other women are increasing. That is a positive step in the right direction. 
There has also been good progress in breast reconstruction. For many women who have a mastectomy and choose to have their breast reconstructed it is definitely not a cosmetic procedure; it is a vital part of their treatment and their healing. In 2006 Hutt Valley District Health Board decided it was unable to offer delayed breast reconstruction to women of the central and Nelson-Marlborough regions due to resource constraints. In April this year the Government announced in the Budget that $8 million over 4 years will go to the Hutt Valley District Health Board to deal with the backlog of women from the central and Nelson-Marlborough regions. This will allow 100 women to get secondary breast reconstructions this year which is tremendous news for those women. 
Chris Auchinvole 
: It certainly is. 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: Absolutely. The Government has sent a clear message also that reducing cancer treatment waiting-times is one of our top priorities. This is reflected by the fact that radiation oncology times are now covered by one of the Government’s six key health targets. Under the National Government not one woman has had to be sent to Australia for radiation treatment and that is just fantastic—not one woman. District health boards are now aiming for every person needing radiation treatment to receive it within 4 weeks; that will be a target by December this year. That is an astonishing improvement since the last term of Parliament when women were basically going in droves over to Sydney and other centres in Australia for their breast cancer treatment. 
Under the previous Government eligible patients with early HER2 positive breast cancer were able to access only 9 weeks of Herceptin treatment. The Government made 12 months’ funding of Herceptin treatment available for women with early-stage breast cancer from December 2008 and that was the right thing to do—there is no doubt about it. As time goes on and more trials come out and more data is produced the evidence for 12 months of Herceptin has grown stronger and stronger while the evidence for 9 weeks has become extremely weak and shaky. The Government did the right thing; I am proud to be part of this Government. 
The debate having concluded the motion lapsed.