Valerie Pennick (left) and Toni Stringer, Pink Caravan breast-care nurses, spread the "early breast cancer detection" message in Rotorua yesterday. Photo / Stephen Parker
The Pink Caravan Tour was back in Rotorua yesterday as part of a 32-town nationwide tour.
It is part of a push to get women to understand breast cancer's signs and symptoms, family and lifestyle-risk factors, and to know what to do if concerned.
With two breast-care nurses to answer
questions and with information on board, the caravan tour message is that the earlier people are diagnosed, the better the outcome, and regular breast screening is the best way to go.
It is also important to know what the signs of breast cancer are because it can appear between mammograms.
Breast-care nurse Valerie Pennick said over the years the death rate had fallen through regular screening programmes and breast-awareness, except in Maori and Pacific people. They did not see a doctor as regularly and when cancers were discovered they were the larger ones.
