Latest news with #BreastCancerFoundation
Scoop
3 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
17,096 Kiwis Call For Urgent Action To Fund Keytruda For New Zealand's 'deadliest Breast Cancer'
Breast Cancer Foundation NZ is proud to support Auckland woman, Catherine Cooke, as she presents her petition to MP Hon. Mark Mitchell, urging the Government to fund the cancer drug Keytruda for early stage triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Catherine is presenting the petition at Breast Cancer Foundation NZ office in Parnell on 27 June at 2pm. The level of support for this petition is significant and shows New Zealanders are fed up with falling behind the rest of the world in terms of access to life-saving treatment. Catherine was diagnosed with early TNBC, an aggressive form of breast cancer in November last year after her yearly mammogram. She was told Keytruda with chemotherapy would give her the best chance of survival – but the drug would only be funded if her cancer was advanced. Instead, Catherine has had to put most of her work on hold and sell her family home to fund the treatment - which is costing around $85,000. Around 350 women are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer every year, which is approximately 10% of all breast cancer diagnoses. It is also more common in younger women with nearly 15% of diagnoses in women under the age of 45 being triple negative. For one in three women with early triple negative breast cancer, it will return and become incurable within five years. It is the deadliest form of breast cancer and is harder to treat. Unlike most other breast cancers, triple negative breast cancer doesn't respond to hormone-blocking treatments and targeted drugs. Keytruda is an immunotherapy drug, and it is the only targeted treatment that works to fight triple negative breast cancer and is given to patients alongside chemotherapy. It's fully funded in 40 other countries including Australia, Canada and Britain. New international research was published last year and showed that Keytruda can stop women dying from triple negative breast cancer because it's highly effective at preventing cancer coming back. Patients with early triple negative breast cancer receiving Keytruda in a clinical trial were 34% less likely to die and 32% less likely to have their cancer spread beyond the breast. It is widely accepted by the medical community internationally as the best drug to treat early triple negative breast cancer and New Zealanders deserve access to this treatment. Breast Cancer Foundation NZ Chief Executive, Ah-Leen Rayner said 'women like Catherine are having to go through drastic lengths to be able to pay for Keytruda. It's atrocious that New Zealanders are selling their homes, asking for help from their parents or complete strangers to find hundreds of thousands of dollars, or potentially simply going without treatment that could save their lives. 'We are so grateful to Catherine for working tirelessly for better drug access for New Zealanders in the future, but she shouldn't have to. We're urging the government to ensure Pharmac has the budget it needs to fund these essential medicines that are standard of care around the world.'
RNZ News
01-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
'This is not a recognition I carry alone' - Māori honoured in King's Birthday list
Dr Maxine Ronald is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to breast cancer treatment and research. Photo: SUPPLIED Rugby superstar Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, former Labour Minister Dover Samuels, and waka stalwart Joe Conrad are among the Māori on this years King's Birthday Honours List. Thirty-one Māori received honours this King's Birthday, making up 16 percent of the list. Read the full list of King's Birthday Honours recipients Whangārei-based breast cancer surgeon Dr Maxine Ronald is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to breast cancer treatment and research. Ronald (Te Kapotai ki Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine) was feeling totally overwhelmed by the honour. "It's obviously a huge honour but it's also a massive surprise. I don't think anyone who does work like this really expects to be recognised in any way. We just kind of do this because we have a passion or we see a need and we're in the right place at the right time. "I mean honestly I feel a little bit uncomfortable accepting this award as an individual just because of all the people who are also doing the same mahi and who have supported me to be able to do the mahi that I do." She thanked Dr Nina Scott, Hei Ahuru Mowai the National Maori Cancer Leadership Group, Breast Cancer CURE and the Breast Cancer Foundation for supporting her work. Receiving the honour sent a message particularly to wāhine Māori that there were people working hard to improve outcomes for them, she said. "There's no denying that recognition like this helps to connect people which is a really important part of our mahi in breast cancer research and any work that we're doing for breast cancer for Māori, because we need to connect with multiple different groups. There's some people in the community doing amazing things, it's not just hospital specialists and cancer specialists and researchers." Ronald said the part of her work that she is most proud of is connecting with wahine and their whānau through her clinical work as a breast surgeon. "I get a lot of satisfaction from being able to support all women through their breast cancer journey, but for Māori women their often very appreciative that there's someone who might understand where they are coming from and that's really lovely to make that connection." There are more and more Māori surgeons coming through the system and Ronald is hopeful some of them will work in the breast cancer space so she can definitively shed her unenviable title of Aotearoa's only wahine Māori breast cancer surgeon. "You just worry about being... positioned as the 'only' because you really have to question why are you the only there really should have been more a long time ago." Her last message to wāhine Māori was not to be scared about getting screened for breast cancer. It was always scary to get a breast cancer diagnosis, but the earlier it was detected the more treatable it was, she said. Dr Alishia Rangiwhakawaitau Moeahu a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori culture in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours. Photo: Supplied/Alishia Moeahu Dr Alishia Rangiwhakawaitau Moeahu is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her work in the Māori cultural space in the Wellington region. Moeahu (Ngāti Awa, Ngā Tūhoe, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Hikaairo, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Porou) spoke to RNZ from Tokyo, where she and husband Kura Moeahu travelled to support Te Rūnanganui o Te Āti Awa and the Hutt City Council's relationship with their Japanese sister city Minoh. Although it was a huge surprise, she was humbled to receive the NZOM on behalf of Ngāti Awa and the many iwi she proudly belongs to. "I feel this is not a recognition I carry alone and there are so many people that I pay tribute to, a collective that have contributed to this honour. I think of my whānau, I think of my Kuia that I was raised by in Te Teko." Wellington is often a busy place with many organisations and government departments requiring cultural support and Moehau acknowledged the members of Te Puharikiriki group who support her mahi. Moehau is particularly proud of working with mōrehu (survivors) of abuse in care during the National Apology of the Crown. She coached a group of female mōrehu to learn and perform the karanga at both the dawn ceremony and national apology. "To allow them that safe space to learn the karanga and to stand strong and proud to deliver the karanga at the ceremony... in Parliament. And just providing them with that manaakitanga and building their confidence in that space that was a huge honour for me. "[It was] also quite emotional as well to learn about what these mōrehu have gone through in New Zealand and to be quite honest I was oblivious until we actually got involved. We hear about things when we grow up, but we don't actually know the full impact it has and some of them are our whānau." Last year Moeahu completed her PHD, something she said was a huge challenge while she continued her cultural work. She thanked everyone who had supported her through the process and said she plans to continue working with her husband's iwi Te Āti Awa and with her own of Ngāti Awa. "So my role now is giving back... not only am I enjoying serving but I'm enjoying giving back to the community," she said. Photo: RNZ Pita Tipene is to be a Companion of the King's Service Order for his contribution to his community through governance as a Māori leader for more than 30 years. Tipene (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Te Tārawa) credits the honour to his parents, kaumatua, kuia and wider whānau who, from a young age, taught him that serving his people was both a duty and reward in and of itself. "When I was being raised, our parents always spoke in te reo Māori and so we grew up being bilingual, bicultural, having gone to Motatau school and having a generation of kaumatua and kuia who are very much still part of our hearts and minds today and who handed us values of humility and service to the people before service to one's self." "All of those values that we hold dear to and, and certainly I hold dear to, have been reflected throughout my life and that there is no fulfilment that is more important than serving your own people and doing your best to put your shoulder to the wheel to improve the circumstances of your communities." Tipene grew up on a small dairy farm in Opahi, just south of Moerewa, and is the third youngest of 11 children. He has been the chair of the Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust for 20 years, helping grow and transform the financial assets, chaired Te Kotahitanga o Nga Hapū Ngāpuhi for 16 years and has presented to the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of Ngāti Hine and Ngāpuhi since 2010. Tipene has also deployed his governance expertise in a number of roles overseas like attending international indigenous forums as a Māori leader including APEC in 2023 and 2024 as the international Indigenous Economic Development Forum keynote speaker. He is a member of the National Iwi Chairs Forum and has chaired the Manuka Charitable Trust, which protects Manuka as a taonga in the global market. Tipene credited his strong education at St Stephen's School for opening his eyes to a world outside of Motatau and the North. "Coming from Motatau, you know, you never really went to Auckland or very rarely. So St Stephens was another great part of my life journey that I savour and remember with much fondness... "It gave me, I suppose, a more national and even international outlook on how big the world really was," Tipene said
RNZ News
01-06-2025
- Health
- RNZ News
'This is not a recognition I carry alone' - Māori honoured in King's Birthday lists
Dr Maxine Ronald is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to breast cancer treatment and research. Photo: SUPPLIED Rugby superstar Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, former Labour Minister Dover Samuels, and waka stalwart Joe Conrad are among the Māori on this years King's Birthday Honours List. Thirty-one Māori received honours this King's Birthday, making up 16 percent of the list. Read the full list of King's Birthday Honours recipients Whangārei-based breast cancer surgeon Dr Maxine Ronald is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to breast cancer treatment and research. Ronald (Te Kapotai ki Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Wai, Ngāti Hine) was feeling totally overwhelmed by the honour. "It's obviously a huge honour but it's also a massive surprise. I don't think anyone who does work like this really expects to be recognised in any way. We just kind of do this because we have a passion or we see a need and we're in the right place at the right time. "I mean honestly I feel a little bit uncomfortable accepting this award as an individual just because of all the people who are also doing the same mahi and who have supported me to be able to do the mahi that I do." She thanked Dr Nina Scott, Hei Ahuru Mowai the National Maori Cancer Leadership Group, Breast Cancer CURE and the Breast Cancer Foundation for supporting her work. Receiving the honour sent a message particularly to wāhine Māori that there were people working hard to improve outcomes for them, she said. "There's no denying that recognition like this helps to connect people which is a really important part of our mahi in breast cancer research and any work that we're doing for breast cancer for Māori, because we need to connect with multiple different groups. There's some people in the community doing amazing things, it's not just hospital specialists and cancer specialists and researchers." Ronald said the part of her work that she is most proud of is connecting with wahine and their whānau through her clinical work as a breast surgeon. "I get a lot of satisfaction from being able to support all women through their breast cancer journey, but for Māori women their often very appreciative that there's someone who might understand where they are coming from and that's really lovely to make that connection." There are more and more Māori surgeons coming through the system and Ronald is hopeful some of them will work in the breast cancer space so she can definitively shed her unenviable title of Aotearoa's only wahine Māori breast cancer surgeon. "You just worry about being... positioned as the 'only' because you really have to question why are you the only there really should have been more a long time ago." Her last message to wāhine Māori was not to be scared about getting screened for breast cancer. It was always scary to get a breast cancer diagnosis, but the earlier it was detected the more treatable it was, she said. Dr Alishia Rangiwhakawaitau Moeahu a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to Māori culture in the 2025 King's Birthday Honours. Photo: Supplied/Alishia Moeahu Dr Alishia Rangiwhakawaitau Moeahu is to be a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her work in the Māori cultural space in the Wellington region. Moeahu (Ngāti Awa, Ngā Tūhoe, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangitihi, Ngāti Mahuta, Ngāti Paoa, Ngāti Hikaairo, Te Aitanga a Mahaki, Rongowhakaata, Ngāti Porou) spoke to RNZ from Tokyo, where she and husband Kura Moeahu travelled to support Te Rūnanganui o Te Āti Awa and the Hutt City Council's relationship with their Japanese sister city Minoh. Although it was a huge surprise, she was humbled to receive the NZOM on behalf of Ngāti Awa and the many iwi she proudly belongs to. "I feel this is not a recognition I carry alone and there are so many people that I pay tribute to, a collective that have contributed to this honour. I think of my whānau, I think of my Kuia that I was raised by in Te Teko." Wellington is often a busy place with many organisations and government departments requiring cultural support and Moehau acknowledged the members of Te Puharikiriki group who support her mahi. Moehau is particularly proud of working with mōrehu (survivors) of abuse in care during the National Apology of the Crown. She coached a group of female mōrehu to learn and perform the karanga at both the dawn ceremony and national apology. "To allow them that safe space to learn the karanga and to stand strong and proud to deliver the karanga at the ceremony... in Parliament. And just providing them with that manaakitanga and building their confidence in that space that was a huge honour for me. "[It was] also quite emotional as well to learn about what these mōrehu have gone through in New Zealand and to be quite honest I was oblivious until we actually got involved. We hear about things when we grow up, but we don't actually know the full impact it has and some of them are our whānau." Last year Moeahu completed her PHD, something she said was a huge challenge while she continued her cultural work. She thanked everyone who had supported her through the process and said she plans to continue working with her husband's iwi Te Āti Awa and with her own of Ngāti Awa. "So my role now is giving back... not only am I enjoying serving but I'm enjoying giving back to the community," she said. Photo: RNZ Pita Tipene is to be a Companion of the King's Service Order for his contribution to his community through governance as a Māori leader for more than 30 years. Tipene (Ngāti Hine, Ngāti Te Tārawa) credits the honour to his parents, kaumatua, kuia and wider whānau who, from a young age, taught him that serving his people was both a duty and reward in and of itself. "When I was being raised, our parents always spoke in te reo Māori and so we grew up being bilingual, bicultural, having gone to Motatau school and having a generation of kaumatua and kuia who are very much still part of our hearts and minds today and who handed us values of humility and service to the people before service to one's self." "All of those values that we hold dear to and, and certainly I hold dear to, have been reflected throughout my life and that there is no fulfilment that is more important than serving your own people and doing your best to put your shoulder to the wheel to improve the circumstances of your communities." Tipene grew up on a small dairy farm in Opahi, just south of Moerewa, and is the third youngest of 11 children. He has been the chair of the Ngāti Hine Forestry Trust for 20 years, helping grow and transform the financial assets, chaired Te Kotahitanga o Nga Hapū Ngāpuhi for 16 years and has presented to the Waitangi Tribunal on behalf of Ngāti Hine and Ngāpuhi since 2010. Tipene has also deployed his governance expertise in a number of roles overseas like attending international indigenous forums as a Māori leader including APEC in 2023 and 2024 as the international Indigenous Economic Development Forum keynote speaker. He is a member of the National Iwi Chairs Forum and has chaired the Manuka Charitable Trust, which protects Manuka as a taonga in the global market. Tipene credited his strong education at St Stephen's School for opening his eyes to a world outside of Motatau and the North. "Coming from Motatau, you know, you never really went to Auckland or very rarely. So St Stephens was another great part of my life journey that I savour and remember with much fondness... "It gave me, I suppose, a more national and even international outlook on how big the world really was," Tipene said
Scoop
29-05-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Over $6,000 Raised For Breast Cancer Foundation NZ At Pink Ribbon Breakfast
More than 100 people gathered this morning to support breast cancer awareness at a Pink Ribbon Breakfast at Ōrākei Bay this morning, raising over $6,000 for Breast Cancer Foundation NZ. The event was co-hosted by Tāmaki MP Brooke van Velden and Epsom MP David Seymour with proceeds supporting research, education, and patient care across New Zealand. 'This is a cause that touches thousands of Kiwi families every year,' said van Velden. 'It's great to see so many people from our community come together to support such an important cause.' 'Every dollar raised helps fund better outcomes for people facing breast cancer. We're grateful to everyone who came along and contributed,' said Seymour. 'A huge thank you to our guest speaker Jude Dobson, Breast Cancer Foundation NZ ambassador, for joining us and sharing her perspective. We're also incredibly grateful to the Foundation's experts who gave up their time to answer questions and engage with attendees. Their presence made the event truly meaningful.' The breakfast was made possible thanks to the generosity of local businesses. Collective Hospitality provided the stunning Ōrākei Bay venue free of charge, ensuring that all proceeds could go directly to the Breast Cancer Foundation. Function Staff, Insphire, and The Revelry also generously donated their services. Breast Cancer Foundation NZ relies on the support of community events like this one to fund life-saving initiatives. Donations can still be made at
Scoop
26-05-2025
- Business
- Scoop
$600 Billion In Assets, $200 Billion In Debt, $0 In Sense
The Haps It's event season with ACT holding three notable ones in the next two months. This Friday's Pink Ribbon Breakfast (raising money for the Breast Cancer Foundation) is nearly sold out. This Sunday June 1 the Party is holding a thank you to supporters who've helped its leader come from political outsider to Deputy Prime Minister (just over three-quarters sold), and the party's 2025 Rally will be held on July 13 and sales have just opened. If you enjoy Free Press, please step right up and show your support in person at these events. Debate of the Decade Altogether the Budget was best summed up by Damien Grant as 'minding the welfare state.' The last Government spent a fortune but most results got worse. Some like ACT would rather cut the spending back, but the Government is a coalition. Instead the Government is holding its spending almost flat, and looking to manage population and inflation pressures by getting more efficiency. The Budget had $1.3 billion of extra spending, less than a one per cent increase. It managed $6.2 billion dollars of new capital spending by saving $4.9 billion elsewhere. In other words the Government has started doing what everyone else has to, saving somewhere else when it wants to pay for something new. A lot of this spending has ACT's fingerprints on it. Far more on defence, we will reach 2 per cent of GDP about as fast as any military can grow. Far more on prison space, locking up the worst offenders is the best money taxpayers will ever spend. There is also more for health and education, which have been stretched. So where's the debate of the decade in all this? Interest on debt is now a major expense in its own right, at $9 billion. Interest costs more than Police and Prisons combined, or about as much as Primary, Intermediate, and Secondary schooling. That's because the debt is nearly $200 billion, and welfare is over $50 billion a year. Nearly half of that is pensions, which rise by a billion and a half each year as more people retire and live longer. Put it another way: $50 billion is nearly $10,000 per person. If you're in a family of four that is not getting $40,000 of taxpayer cash a year, you are below average. Health is up $13 billion in seven years, but results seem worse. We could go on, but the point is the Government is currently borrowing $14.7 billion a year, and its plan to borrow only $3 billion in four years' time depends on nothing going wrong for four years. What we're doing is not sustainable. The options are either: Tax more, such as the Greens' and Labour's wealth or capital gains tax Just keep borrowing and see what happens (some people genuinely think this is the answer) Spend less. This is going to be one helluva fight. If we do nothing, it is a matter of time before the left gets back in and defaults to option 1. More taxes that are really tall poppy syndrome in tax law. Your problems are caused by others' successes, the story goes, and your solution is to take their money. It will deaden our society from the inside out. Option 2 is the road to some sort of banana republic status. The problem is some would default to it through inaction, and some others think using debt is actually an enlightened idea. The problem is the spiral that goes like this: Investors lose faith in the New Zealand Government paying back its bonds, so they demand higher interest rates to buy its bonds. That makes it harder to pay. The spiral that so many South American and South East Asian countries have experienced. If you're not keen on new taxes, or the Government going broke, you're with us. The next five years of New Zealand politics will be in large part about which of the three options to choose. The Greens have set out their stall. Labour can't decide, but we predict they'll campaign on more taxes. Te Pāti Māori wouldn't understand this newsletter. The coalition hasn't seriously reduced spending. Even Grant Robertson was spending far less as a percentage of GDP (28%) than the current Government (33%). That five-point difference equates to about $23 billion more. That leaves ACT as the only party unashamedly promoting the only option left. If the Government's going to balance its budget without more taxes, it'll need to be smaller and more efficient. There's three ways we can think of to do that. One is to do the same stuff more efficiently. David Seymour halved the price of school lunches, and now they're getting 100 per cent on time delivery with better meals. The number of Ministers, portfolios and departments is too many, leaving everybody and nobody in charge of everything and nothing. It should be simplified. The number of public servants hasn't really budged, the head counts should be reduced. The Government has around 800 boards. No one person in the entire world knows what they all do. The Government could maintain its service levels with a smaller, simpler structure. Another way is to transfer less cash. We can keep paying Superannuation at 65 but Australia, the U.S., U.K., Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain are all increasing their ages. We will be left alongside France, Greece, and other places of questionable economic and fiscal management. We'll also be paying more for Superannuation than anything else except healthcare. Young people might decide they don't want to stick around and pay for it. Ditto the fact that one-in-six working-aged New Zealanders are on a benefit. Then there's ownership. The Government has $600 billion, over half a trillion dollars, in assets. Most of them deliver negligible returns, but the taxpayer pays interest on $200 billion of debt. Is that sensible? Those are the choices. More tax, more debt, or a smaller, more efficient Government that splashes less cash. How this debate resolves in the next two electoral cycles will probably decide if New Zealand is a big Singapore, or a big Samoa.
