October is Breast Screening Awareness Month and Betty-Anne Monga, who you may recognise as the lead singer from Ardijah, is the face of our campaign to encourage waahine to do their breast screening.
Betty-Anne is of Ngā Puhi, Ngāti Whātua, Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāiterangi, Tainui and Tūwharetoa descent, and early this year was honoured as a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
As a devoted musician, this strong waahine is a passionate waka ama paddler and coach who loves getting out on the water and takes her health seriously.
“I wanted to do something to help our beautiful community and encourage others to do their screening.
“I used to be one of those that didn’t want to get it done - too busy, hoha/whakamaa/awkward, but now I take responsibility for me and I really want to encourage other waahine to do their breast screening."
Maaori and Pacific women have a higher risk of mortality from breast cancer compared to other ethnic groups and early diagnosis can help to change these outcomes.
We want to thank Betty-Anne for generously lending her voice to the campaign – all she asks is that waahine go and get their breast screen done.
“Let’s stop breast cancer taking our waahine. Book your breast screen today!”
