The Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer (ACPCC), the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO), ACON and the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative have united in a new Australian Government-funded campaign, ‘Own It,’ to improve cervical screening rates by highlighting Australia’s HPV self-collect test.
Women and people with a cervix from First Nations, multicultural, LGBTQ+ communities and those with a disability are less likely to do their potentially life-saving cervical screening test.
More than 70 per cent of cervical cancers occur in people who have never screened or aren’t up to date with their screening. Routine screening every five years is crucial for early detection and prevention for all women and people with a cervix from age 25 to 74.
The self-collect test is helping women overcome previous barriers to screening, such as fear of the speculum or concerns about having a doctor collect a sample, enabling women to screen for the first time. In the first half of 2024 alone, nearly 20,000 first-time screeners opted to self-collect. At the same time, 37,500 overdue screeners did a self-collected test.
The campaign tells the real-life stories and experiences of 16 women and people with a cervix from First Nations, multicultural and LGBTQ+ communities, and those with disability.
Campaign materials have been translated into four languages: Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin and Vietnamese.
The Australian Government has provided $10.2 million to implement the campaign.
“The Albanese Labor Government is determined to be the first in the world to eliminate cervical cancer, we’ll get there by making sure no one is left behind. Self-collection is key to achieving that goal as it will help us screen women who have previously refused or resisted screening – be it through cultural safety, inaccessibility or preference. The quick and simple swab is easy, private, and game-changing in getting more women screened,” Assistant Minister Ged Kearney MP said.
“The Albanese Labor Government is investing in this campaign and partnering with these organisations for the first time to speak to these women directly, with their real-life stories, in their languages and their voices,” Kearney added.
“The national campaign is a significant step forward in raising awareness about cervical screening within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It builds on the successful implementation of human papillomavirus (HPV) self collection already taking place in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations,” Dr Dawn Casey, deputy chief Executive officer for the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) said.
“Through the focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and multicultural communities, this campaign is vital in achieving the aims of the National Elimination Strategy, which identified the need to place a greater focus and more effort to achieve equity of access to culturally safe and inclusive cervical cancer prevention services,” Professor Marion Saville AM, executive director and public officer of the Australian Centre for the Prevention of Cervical Cancer added.
“We’ve already seen a massive change in the past few months in the confidence of healthcare providers to offer the self-collection option. Before learning about self-collection, 47 per cent of healthcare providers did not think the option was as accurate as a clinician-collected test, but following education from ACPCC, approximately 80 per cent now understand that it is accurate and 82 per cent said they would offer it to more eligible patients”.
“As an organisation that partners with multicultural communities, the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative knows how important it is for everyone to feel empowered and informed about their health choices,” the Australian Multicultural Health Collaborative said.
“The Own It cervical screening campaign is a vital initiative that brings much-needed attention to self-collection as a safe and effective choice for women from all backgrounds. By making cervical screening more accessible and culturally sensitive, this campaign will help ensure that more women, especially those from our diverse communities, take control of their health and wellbeing,” they added.
“This new and innovative national campaign builds on ACON’s original New South Wales-focused cervical screening campaign which ran in 2023, and was supported by the Cancer Institute NSW. The new national campaign takes the same authentic approach to delivering adapted and tailored messages for a broader national audience,” Michael Woodhouse, chief executive officer at ACON said.
“The campaign is based on the experiences of real people who have overcome barriers to cervical screening by choosing how their cervical screening test is done. The campaign promotes options and choices, including using the self-collection swab, finding a doctor they can trust, and educating themselves to address misinformation,” Woodhouse added.
Credits:
Department of Health and Aged Care
ACON
Michael Woodhouse, Deputy CEO
Matthew Vaughan, Director HIV and Sexual Health
Scott Walsberger, Cancer Programs Manager
Ana Varua, National Campaign Coordinator
Juan Dueñas, National Campaign Planner
Emily Spencer, Digital Engagement and Campaign Producer
Eric Lee, Digital Content Producer
Alison Guo, Community Engagement Officer
Creative and strategy:
Untold Fable, lead creative agency
Kate Tancred, CEO
Rosie Robertson, Head of Client Services
Lucy Perrett, Client Services
James Wright,
Cultural Perspectives, multicultural creative agency
Sarah Migliorino, Director Communications
Eman Mourad, Senior Engagement Consultant
Anna Abourizk, Account Manager
Rea Singh, Director Engagement
Nani Creative / Lush, First Nations creative agency
Kevin Wilson, Creative Director at Nani Creative
Leigh Wood, Design Director at Nani Creative
Kate Elder, Strategy at Nani Creative
Clare Reid, CEO, Writer, Strategist at Lush
Sling & Stone, PR agency
Grade, digital/website agency
Matt Bachle, Founder and CEO
Justine Marino, General Manager
Kylie Anderson, Production and Operations
Adam Robertson, Technical Director
Production:
Selina Miles, Director/DOP
Scott Heldorf, AC
James Wright, Producer
Lucy Perrett, Client Services
Emily Laverello, Photographer
Rebecca Seeto, Photographer’s Asst/DIT
Aaliyah Bradbury, Voice Over Director
Hannah Lehmann, BTS Director
Louis Godbold, BTS Shooter
Lara Cross, Sound Engineer (VO Crew)
Kate Toohey, Sound Technician (BTS Crew)
Aisha Philips Green, Art Director
Lachie Brown, Art Assistant
Mirco Guidon, Gaffer
Bek Dotty, HMU
Katja Imholz, Production Assistant
Jay Kastle, Production Assistant
Simon Rodgers, Editor
James Baines, Creative Director
Gregg Maxwell, Cameraman (Cairns Crew)
Jade Turnbull, Talent Management (Cairns Crew)
Shaun O’Brien, Sound Recordist (Cairns Crew)
Talent:
Asha Prasad
Deborah Quilici Peluso
Diala Yazbeck
Intisar Al-rikabi
Karen Clinch
Karen Lonsdale
Khwanruethai Ngampromwongse
Kirti Chopra
Lowanna Allen
Mathéo Zerbib
Natesha Somasundaram
Nishi Puri
Riva Hu
Vivian Dinh
Wendy Xu
Nerelle Nicol
Rosemarie Thorne
Samantha Martin
Media: Customedia
Toby Roderick, Partner and Strategist
Melissa Collakides, Group Account Director
Carlos Alvarez, Media Planner
Cristobal Morano, Data Scientist
