Women waiting longer for free mammograms

Women are being forced to wait more than two years before they can even get an appointment on the BreastScreen Aotearoa programme, says National’s Health spokeswoman, Dr Lynda Scott.

“GPs have been told anyone enrolling in the newly extended screening programme will have to wait at least two years before getting their first appointment, if they have paid for a mammogram in the previous year.”

Once a woman is enrolled in the programme she is eligible for a free mammogram every two years.

Dr Scott says if a woman chooses to pay for a mammogram in the interim, she must wait two years from that mammogram before she is eligible for another free one, even though under 50 years olds are encouraged to have annual checks.

“This is blatant discrimination.

“The Minister of Health should encourage people to look after their own health – not punish them.”

Dr Scott says by delaying free mammograms and penalising women who pay for their own mammograms, the Government is undermining the positive effects of extending the age of eligibility for free breast screening.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>