AUCKLAND WOMEN’S HEALTH COUNCIL
ANNUAL REPORT
April 2009 – March 2010
The Auckland Women’s Health Council has been in existence for almost 22 years. Since the first meeting in July 1988 the Council has provided a strong voice on women’s health in the Auckland region and has been actively involved in women’s health issues at a national level.
The AWHC continues to maintain a special interest in the issues that arose from the Inquiry into the treatment of cervical cancer at National Women’s Hospital and in the implementation of the recommendations in Judge Silvia Cartwright’s Report which was released in August 1988. These issues include the National Cervical Screening Programme, patients’ rights, informed consent, access to patient records, ethics committees, and research.
After two decades the need for a woman’s voice on these issues remains as strong as ever, due to advances in technology, changes to the health system, and the increasing influence and power of the pharmaceutical industry.
The National Cervical Screening Programme continues to be an important issue for the Council due to its location within the Ministry of Health, and the impact that changes and restructuring within the Ministry have upon the NCSP. The Council also takes a keen interest in the breast screening programme as well as a number of other screening programmes that the National Screening Unit has either assumed responsibility for or are considering establishing. Issues of concern around the increasing interest in screening programmes include the need for fully informed decision-making, the importance of ensuring a screening programme offers benefits that outweigh the harms, and that there are adequate resources and services in place to refer to those found to be at risk of having the condition being screened for
District Health Boards
Over the past nine years the AWHC has attended most of the meetings of Auckland’s three District Health Boards. As well as monitoring the Board’s activities in relation to women’s health issues, attending meetings has enabled the Council to establish an important profile with the three DHBs.
The Council has gained considerable insights into how the three DHBs operate in their own areas and how they interact with the other two in providing services for the population in the greater Auckland region. Over the past year or two the Council has observed a disturbing reduction in the level of cooperation between the three DHBs as a result of the downturn in the economy, the reduced amount of government funding for health and the government’s demand for “sooner, better, more convenient” primary health services.
For the past two years the AWHC’s co-ordinator has been a member of the Auckland DHB’s Community and Public Health Advisory Committee and Hospital Advisory Committee of the Auckland DHB after being appointed by Pat Sneddon.
Cartwright Anniversary & Consumer Rights Issues
On August 5th each year the AWHC holds a special ceremony at the Statue of Peace in front of the former National Women’s Hospital building to commemorate the release of the Cartwright Report.
Council members gathered in front of the statue at the beginning of August 2009 to remember the women who died as a result of “the unfortunate experiment” at the hospital and to acknowledge the women who died or were damaged as a result of the mis-reporting of cervical smears in Gisborne. As is our custom the Council then visited the plaque at the foot of the pohutukawa tree situated behind the main building. The tree was planted and the plaque laid to acknowledge with grateful thanks the work of Jock McLean and Bill McIndoe and their concern for the women who attended the hospital.
For a number of Council members the annual ceremony represents a chance to recommit to ensuring that the NCSP remains a safe and effective programme for women.
Challenge to findings of Cartwright Inquiry
In mid August 2009 a book by Linda Bryder, a historian at Auckland University, was published. Entitled “The History of the Unfortunate Experiment at National Women’s Hospital,” the book attempted to refute the findings of the Cartwright Inquiry and argued that Judge Silvia Cartwright was swayed by the misguided opinions of two feminists who like many others before and after them had misunderstood the 1984 paper published by McIndoe, McLean, Jones and Mullins in the American medical journal Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The result was that Herb Green was accused and found guilty of behaviour that was basically the norm for the 1960s and 1970s and there was no experiment.
The fallout from the publication of this book was unprecedented in that academics involved in the Cartwright Inquiry, survivors of Green’s experiment, women’s groups and a few health professionals immediately challenged the many inaccuracies, misleading statements, and the selective use of quotes used by Linda Bryder in her book.
The AWHC set up a special section on the newly developed website to report on and put links to interviews with Linda Bryder and academics and to place the ongoing criticisms of her book. Council members also attended the Cartwright seminar organised by Women’s Health Action in November 2009 that featured speakers with further criticisms of Linda Bryder’s book as well as dealing with other issues.
Submissions
Each year the Council makes written submissions on a variety of health issues that affect the health of women. The Council also writes many letters to health authorities and the Minister of Health on various matters. The written and/or oral submissions produced by the Council during the year included the following:
• The Ministry of Health’s resources on the HPV vaccine Gardasil
• Health & Disability Commissioner’s consultation on the proposal to include the right to be treated with compassion in the Code of Consumer Rights.
• The Ministry of Health’s Maternity Action Plan
• The Ministerial Review Committee’s (Horn) Report
Women’s Health Issues in the Media
The AWHC is contacted regularly by reporters seeking comments and interviews on a wide range of women’s health issues. During the year the Council gave a number of media interviews on issues such as the HPV vaccine, the plan to provide free access to the emergency contraceptive pill, the H1N1 swine flu epidemic, waiting times for termination of pregnancy, issues around the funding and efficacy of the breast cancer drug Herceptin, and proposed changes to the Code of Consumers’ Rights.
The AWHC Newsletter
The Council’s monthly newsletter is regularly sent out to over 130 individual women and women’s groups, MPs and DHB members following each month’s meeting. Back issues are also placed on the AWHC’s website. The newsletter provides information on a range of women’s health issues and activities, notifies members of discussion documents and reports on women’s health issues and submission deadlines, reports on District Health Board activities, and keeps members up-to-date with the work of the Council.
The AWHC newsletter is an important link with other women’s groups as well as with individual women. Information is included from other women’s groups advising members of courses, workshops, seminars and other events.
Although the Council’s funding is often precarious the independence of the newsletter and the commentaries on developments within the health care system and the implication for women create a considerable level of interest across a wide section of the sector.
The Auckland Women’s Health Council Website
The AWHC has its own website which has a number of features including a page on the AWHC’s philosophy and history, articles from the Council’s monthly newsletters, information on the Council’s other activities as well as links to other health sites. Thanks to a grant from the ASB Community Trust the website was completely redesigned and enhanced by Zeald.com during the first half of 2009 in consultation with Council members and went live at the end of July.
The AWHC wishes to acknowledge its appreciation of the 2-year sponsorship deal that Zeald.com is providing for the Council’s website. It has enabled the Council to build and maintain an excellent website that provides information and updates on important women’s health issues in a timely manner.
The AWHC Office
The AWHC’s office hours are officially 8am to 4pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, but the co-ordinator’s hours are reasonably flexible to allow for meetings and appointments to be attended on the other two days as required.
The Council’s office is situated in a room in the co-ordinator’s home. The move from the office in Newmarket has been very cost effective for the Council. The AWHC’s monthly meetings and the AGM are still held on the 2nd floor at Gillies Avenue in Newmarket.
Co-ordinator’s Position
The co-ordinator’s position is a part-time position which involves 25 hours per week.
The major tasks include producing the AWHC’s monthly newsletter, preparing submissions in consultation with other AWHC members, dealing with phone and email enquiries, attending meetings on behalf of the Council, preparing grant applications for funds, networking with other women’s groups, attending District Health Board meetings, responding to media inquiries and doing media interviews for radio and TV, updating the website and reporting to the Council at the regular monthly meetings.
The AWHC Meetings
The Council holds a general working meeting each month to discuss the current projects the Council is working on, to make decisions on particular health issues the Council was dealing with, to discuss grant applications and financial matters pertaining to the operation of the Council, and to deal with the ongoing work of the organisation. Detailed reports from both the co-ordinator and the treasurer were presented and discussed at these meetings.
Federation of Women’s Health Councils
The AWHC is a member of the Federation of Women’s Health Councils and continues to network with other Federation members throughout New Zealand.
Funding
While the AWHC has survived a number of difficult years over the past decade due to not being able to access an adequate level of funding, the Council began the year in a reasonably strong financial position.
Lottery Community and COGS continue to be the main sources of funding for the AWHC. A grant application was submitted to Lottery Community in March 2009 for the director’s salary and some administration costs. In June the Council received a grant of $22,000 from Lottery Community.
The AWHC submitted a grant application to four of the five Auckland COGS committees in July. The Council was pleased to receive $2,500 from the Waitakere COGS committee, $2,000 from the North Shore/Rodney COGS committee, $6,726 from the Auckland COGS committee, and $2,000 from the Manukau COGS committee.
The Council is very appreciative of the ongoing funding for administration costs and the co-ordinator’s salary from these two funding agencies.
The AWHC submitted a grant application to the ASB Community Trust at the end of January 2010 for administration costs (rent, telecommunications, photocopier), and for newsletter costs. We have yet to be advised of the result of our application.
Twenty-first Anniversary
2009 represented another milestone for the AWHC with July 2009 being the 21st anniversary of the first meeting of the Council. At the end of July the Council’s new website went live.
In 2010 and on the eve of its 22nd anniversary, the AWHC continues to provide a powerful voice for women’s health. The Council can look back with a sense of achievement at nearly 22 years of work on women’s health issues and celebrate two decades of activism in a health system that has become increasingly complex and dominated by agendas that are often not focused on the wellbeing and needs of women.
