Encouraging wāhine to get screened for Smear Your Mea day #smearyourmea

The three-year anniversary of Talei Morrison's cervical cancer diagnosis will be marked on Sunday August 30 with a number of events to encourage women to participate in cervical screening.

Talei was the force behind the Smear Your Mea campaign, which was launched after the Rotorua woman was diagnosed with cervical cancer in 2017. Sadly, Talei passed away in 2018 but her final months were spent encouraging wāhine Māori to have regular cervical screening tests.

Talei was a force in te ao kapa haka, and so, she leveraged this profile to connect with Māori and shared her story on social media. A number of events are being held in Waikato and Talei’s hometown, Rotorua to mark Smear Your Mea day. 

The National Cervical Screening Programme team values the mahi and ongoing commitment of the team behind the Smear Your Mea campaign in encouraging and supporting wāhine Māori of all ages to participate in cervical screening.

Ko koe, ko au, ko mātau, ko tātou, ngātahi he hāpori tātau.

You, me, we, us, together we make a community.

To find out more, see Smear Your Mea events