Central Otago Rotary Clubs have joined forces with their counterparts across Otago and Southland to strengthen women’s health in the region.

The Rotary Clubs of Alexandra, Cromwell and Wānaka were part of a collaboration to fund vital medical equipment for Te Waka Wahine Hauora The Woman’s Health Bus.

The Woman's Health Bus is a mobile health service which focuses on rural areas where access to medical care often involves significant inconvenience and expense to the patient, such as a day off work, in order to receive care.

It regularly holds clinics across Central Otago, offering services such as gynaecology, colposcopy and other women’s healthcare.

The Rotary Clubs contributed more than $40,000 to purchase a point-of-care machine that will expand the testing capability of the mobile service and reduce wait times for patients.

The Cepheid Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) machine can perform up to four tests at the same time. PHOTO: Supplied

Woman’s Health Bus co-director Dr Helen Paterson described the equipment as a “game changer” for the mobile service enabling testing, diagnostic, and treatment on the same day.

“What we are hoping to achieve is a service where more people will get more access to testing and treatment if required,” she said.

The new ‘mini-lab’ will make it easier for rural women to access preventative medical testing with results available immediately and, where required, a colposcopy can be performed on the same day. 

Dr Helen said this would remove known barriers to health care and ensure women were not ‘’lost’’ due to long delays.

The support from the Rotary Clubs had been “extraordinary’’, she said.

“We were amazed.’’

“It is absolutely fabulous that the community has got on board with this project and our hope is that we will be able to give back to the community equivalently in care.”

The funding was initiated by The Rotary Club of Wānaka after learning 28 per cent of women in the southern districts had never had a smear test, partly due to expense and inconvenience.

Club president Alan Richardson said Rotary clubs across the southern region quickly supported the project.

“We all live in rural communities and we know how hard it can be to get the medical care needed,” Alan said.

“We invited regional Rotary clubs to make this purchase a reality and within days we had the funds needed to purchase this vital medical equipment.

“It makes us all proud to be Rotarians when we see this type of collaboration and know that we are making a real difference in people’s lives.”

The new Cepheid PCR machine has been installed and is now used by the Woman’s Health Bus service.