Auckland Women's Health Council

14/08/2026

𝟑𝟖 𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐫𝐲, 𝐖𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐚 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐂𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐅𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞

It feels like we are still bashing our heads against a brick wall.

https://tinyurl.com/34wwj7zy

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 that in the second quarter of the 21st century, with all the technological advancements that we have, we have an IT system that has 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲?

Two days before the 38th anniversary of the release of the Cartwright Inquiry Report a report commissioned by HealthNZ revealed serious failings in the functionality of a new cervical screening Register that have potentially put thousands of women/wāhine at risk.

https://tinyurl.com/34wwj7zy

- Almost one million screening notifications – 968,000 or almost 63% of the eligible population in 2025 – were never sent to eligible women.
- Women’s screening histories were never properly transitioned onto the new Register.
- There is a concerning level of clinical risk arising from the excessive number of recommendation mismatches between screening laboratories and the Register.

For the Auckland Women’s Health Council, Cartwright Collective, and Federation of Women’s Health Councils Aotearoa, this is a sickening echo of history.

Read our press release here...
https://tinyurl.com/34wwj7zy

05/08/2026

Thirty-eight years ago today, the Cartwright Report was released, marking a turning point for patient rights in Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.

To commemorate the anniversary, we spent the morning with members of the Auckland Women's Health Council at the Statue of Peace, caring for the plaque, reflecting on its history, and looking ahead to the work that remains. Sadly, the fight for equitable, ethical, and patient-centred healthcare is far from over.

Women's Health Action commissioned the plaque in 1993, and it was erected by Auckland women to honour Drs Ron McLean and Bill McIndoe for their role in exposing the unethical research practices investigated by the Cartwright Inquiry.

The legacy of the Inquiry continues to shape healthcare, informed consent, and patient rights today.

Learn more:
🔗 https://www.womens-health.org.nz/the-cartwright-inquiry/

🔗 http://www.cartwrightinquiry.com

25/07/2026

The Forbidden Pharmacy is open to the public for today only, until 5pm, at the Cloud on the Auckland waterfront (next to the ferry buildings). This is such an important statement about the medicines that people in other countries take for granted, that New ZEalanders don't have access to unless they can afford to pay for it themselves. Medicines that save lives, extend lives, give people with incurable diseases more time with their families and better quality of life. Health is wealth and you can not put a price on it.

Today the Forbidden Pharmacy is launching with an installation at Shed 10 in Auckland.

In our State of Ovarian Cancer in Aotearoa report, one of the eight key asks was to improve access to medicines in New Zealand. This issue isn’t unique to ovarian cancer, thousands of New Zealanders are denied access to medicines, that are funded in other OECD countries. So we are joining with 16 other organisations to call on our government to unlock these medicines for New Zealanders, with a collective voice we can have more impact.

Today we are at the immersive experience. Nikida is sharing her experience with MP’s, media and the public, with the support of her good friend Jordan and daughter Kaelyn, thank you so much for ensuring lived-experience is shaping this conversation! Joined by our CEO Liz Pennington and trustees Malcolm MacLeod, Linda Leonard, Alana Allan and Amanda Southcombe we are we are proud to stand alongside other patient organisations calling for better access to medicines for all New Zealanders.

Liz remarked on how powerful, and injust is is to stand in a room with over 200 medicines on display, medicines that are kept under lock and key in New Zealand, but are funded in other countries.

Over the coming weeks there will be ways to be part of this call for action, wherever you live in New Zealand.

22/07/2026

Auckland Women's Health Council absolutely supports this private member's Bill and will be making a submission on it when it is opened for public feedback. Virginity testing is a breach of women's human rights and is unscientific, unreliable, and a medically unnecessary practice. Congratulations to Priyanca Radhakrishnan MP and MP Vanushi Walters for getting this Bill to it's first reading in Parliament. We look forward to seeing this archaic, demeaning and patriarchal act of violence against women outlawed in this country.

My member’s bill will have its first reading this evening - probably around 8.30pm on Parliament tv for anyone who wants to tune in. Many thanks to everyone who raised this issue at various opportunities. And to the one person who raised it at a public meeting with Vanushi Walters & I a few years back, leading to this Bill and hopefully, law change. Thanks also to the The Helen Clark Foundation for their excellent research on the issue. This is democracy at its finest - every voice counts and when we work together, it can lead to change.

14/07/2026

In one of three articles in the NZHerald in the last three days, highly critical of the state of our health system and the agencies that are supposed to be protecting health consumers, Michael Morrah talks about his mother's experience in the emergency department and the issues in an over stretched, burnt out and under-funded system from primary care and general practice through to EDs and hospital wards.

14/07/2026

Our health system is broken and those who should be responding to harm in our health system keep passing the buck.

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/auckland-man-clyde-maclean-paralysed-after-dental-sedation-still-waiting-for-justice-three-years-on/I2SI7GYR7BHCDCOZOU7SNZ3Y4M/

ACC accepted Clyde MacLean's claim for medical injury, but our no-fault ACC system means he can't sue for the real cost of the harm to him. Meanwhile the HDC has closed their investigation, passing the buck to the Medical Council. The Medical Council has passed the buck right back saying they can't investigate until the HDC has finished their investigation!

Two and a half years after the original complaint to the HDC it is still bouncing around between HDC and the Medical Council. The specialist Auckland clinic that treated Clyde MacLean has said that they have done nothing wrong and the anesthetist at the centre of the complaint, and who was found by an expert to have made “some serious procedural errors at a critical time”, is now working at a different practice.

And Clyde MacLean has a lifelong disability that no-one is taking responsibility for.

Clyde MacLean suffered a severe brain injury during sedation for a dental procedure.

09/07/2026

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐉𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐍𝐎𝐖!
https://tinyurl.com/38smtpkj

In this edition articles include:

- research showing that many women with early breast cancer can avoid chemotherapy without affecting their survival time or risk of recurrence;

- an analysis of the 2026 Budget asking if health got enough money to do more than just keep the lights on in our hospitals; and

- a bizarre call from one of NZ’s med school associate professors to limit the rights of patients to consent to medical students observing and taking part in their care.

In addition, we celebrate four wāhine toa who were honoured in the recent King’s Birthday Honours.

24/05/2026

𝐌𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐬

Recent research has offered hope to the one in ten women that suffer endometriosis in Aotearoa New Zealand. A University of Otago study, published in April this year, has found that the use of medicinal cannabis has benefits for some New Zealanders suffering the severe pain of endometriosis. Participants in the research experienced reduced levels of pain and improvements in quality of life, including improved sleep and reduced anxiety about their health, during the three-month study in which some were prescribed CBD* oil and other were prescribed CBD oil and cannabis flower.

Read more in our latest Newsletter https://tinyurl.com/22enphc5

23/05/2026

𝐋𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐡𝐚𝐦'𝐬 𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫.
https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/kiwi-mum-on-missing-subtle-signs-of-ovarian-cancer/YIV3HHN6TBHX7EM5Z73UK2YZGI/

Too many women/wāhine with ovarian cancer are diagnosed at late stage. Many go to their doctors insisting that something is wrong multiple times. Many go to their GPs 5 to 10 or more times before their symptoms are taken seriously and they are diagnosed. Nearly half of diagnoses are through emergency or unplanned hospital admissions. Many women are told they are too young for ovarian cancer; one-third of Māori and Pacific wāhine are diagnosed under 45. Something has got to change. Read the Ovarian Cancer Foundation NZ report and find out what needs to be done.

https://ovariancancerfoundation.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/WEB_State-of-ovarian-cancer-report_pages.pdf

In New Zealand, about 85% of women are diagnosed at stage three or four.

22/05/2026

𝐏𝐂𝐎𝐒 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐌𝐎𝐒

Auckland Women's Health Council is pleased that the change from PCOS to PMOS has been adopted. Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome is a far more holistic description of the condition. The name change should improve health professionals’ understanding of the condition. This is particularly important for GPs, as they are usually the first health practitioner that women seek help from. Years of research showed that the term PCOS was confusing and in many cases harmful to women, and potentially hampered diagnosis.

See the article in the NZ Herald and in our latest Newsletter:
https://www.womenshealthcouncil.org.nz/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/AWHC_Newsletter_May_2026-C.pdf

https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/pcos-now-pmos-new-zealand-advocates-say-clearer-name-will-speed-up-diagnosis/4Q3M3SBVIBH4XODRVMFMB4QPSE/

For many women, that delay in diagnosis can have serious long-term consequences.