Article written by Emma Hatton for RNZ
Last year deaths from ovarian cancer topped the number of women killed on our roads, yet people with the disease say it is an ignored crisis.
Today a petition with more than 7,000 signatures, calling for national diagnostic guidelines to be developed, better treatment options, as well as more government funding, was presented to National Party MP Louise Upston on the steps of Parliament.
Those steps were covered in 182 white crosses – the number of people who died last year of the disease.
Jane Ludemann, who co-organised the petition, was diagnosed in 2017.
She said the sector was woefully underfunded.
“At a government level we’re not funding anything in regards to awareness and most years we don’t fund any research. It’s one of our least-funded cancers in New Zealand.”….
OCFNZ started as Cure Our Ovarian Cancer in 2018, with a focus on low-grade serous ovarian cancer. In 2020, we expanded our focus to include all ovarian cancer and, in 2024, we changed our name to the Ovarian Cancer Foundation New Zealand.
