What is the role of the Committee?

The Committee’s role is to advise the Director-General of Health on screening policy and practice, including cancer screening and genetic screening by:

• providing advice on screening practice (including its effectiveness, feasibility, value for money, likely harms and benefits, and impact on the health care system)
• providing advice on social and ethical considerations in screening, including cultural considerations, and reducing inequalities both in access to screening and in outcomes of screening
• providing advice on the systems needed in order to monitor the quality, including safety and effectiveness, of screening in New Zealand
• provide advice on ways screening practice in New Zealand can maximise benefit and minimise harm
• provide advice on the level of resources needed for high quality screening.

 

What are the priorities for the Committee?

The Committee has established four pieces of work it considers to be priority over the next two years.  These are:

• a review of antenatal screening
• the development of guidelines for informed consent in screening
• a review of practice relating to opportunistic screening
• the development of a framework to guide the consideration of social and ethical issues in screening.

In addition, the Committee provides advice to the Director-General of Health, the National Screening Unit and the Ministry of Health on specific issues in screening, as required.  Previous advice to the Director-General has been on issues such as colorectal cancer screening, chlamydia screening and the introduction of new screening technologies.

 

Does the Committee make decisions about new screening programmes?

The Committee provides advice on new screening programmes to the Director-General of Health, which will inform advice to the Minister of Health. The Minister makes decisions about new screening programmes (and substantial changes to existing screening programmes).

 

Are Committee members screening ‘experts’?

Some members of the Committee have experience of screening issues, including in policy and operational roles. Committee members have been appointed primarily to bring a range of skills and experience in health care decision making at all levels. There are clinical, consumer, Mäori, Pacific, disability, policy, health care management, and research perspectives on the Committee.