Sunday 8 January 2017 3:39pm
Doctors are at loggerheads over changes to New Zealand's cervical screening programme, with one saying more women will die.
Leading cancer specialist Associate Professor Brian Cox, of Otago University, told the Herald he feared around 30 more women may develop cervical cancer every year and 12 more may die from the disease if the changes go ahead.
Presently women aged between 20-70 have a cervical smear test every three years. Cells taken from the cervix are put into a vial of special preservative and the container is sent to a laboratory for testing.