Hagen Hopkins
Dr Bev Lawton (Ngāti Porou) was recently made Kiwibank New Zealander of the Year for her services to health. As founder and director of Te Tātai Hauora o Hine, the National Centre for Women’s Health Research Aotearoa at Victoria University, Bev focuses on research and advocacy. She also works one day a week in a women’s clinic. In her own words, she shares her story.
My family moved from Hamilton to Wellington when I was six. My father sold insurance and my mother trained to be a teacher when she was 40, which might not sound like much now, but in those days it was amazing.
I’m so grateful to my parents because they worked hard and were always supportive, but it wasn’t until I saw examples of how other people lived that I realised how I was.
Education first
My parents were big believers in education. When Mum was young, school wasn’t free, and she and her brother were lucky to have a relative pay the pound a year for them to go. Dad also valued school because Ngāti Porou has always been education-focused.
Although people did sometimes ask Dad why he was educating his girls when they were just going to get married and have children.
From an early age, I wanted a job where I could be helpful. I thought about the police, but I was too short and I didn’t know any police people either. I also liked the idea of being a mathematician, but we didn’t have any maths friends in our whānau. Yet somehow I became a doctor, even though we didn’t know any doctors.
City shifts
One in seven homes in our Paparangi subdivision was a Māori Affairs house. Being Māori was part of growing up, but there was little experience of tikanga [traditions]. My dad left the East Coast to go to war and when it was over, he didn’t return to his turangawaewae [ancestral home].
Going from a rural setting to the city, some things were lost, even though whānau was still central to our lives. I think about Mum and Dad all the time, the questions I didn’t ask, which is why I enjoy Tolaga Bay as an adult, to go there and walk in Dad’s footsteps.
Lost language, lasting legacy
Our grandmother came to live with us for a few years before she died. She was fluent in te reo Māori, but she refused to teach us. She used some words, but it was complicated back then. I feel that loss but respect her decisions. Now if anyone ever asks what I’d have done differently, I say I wished I’d sat more at the feet of my elders and learned from them.
Science and spark
I was so happy at Onslow College. Especially enjoyed maths, physics and science, and after school, I went to Victoria University and did a science degree. I then applied to Medical School in Dunedin because I woke up one day and decided I wanted be a doctor, to help people and solve problems.
I was very involved with the Springbok protests because justice has always been important to me. Being medical student at the time, I recall sitting on the road and seeing some of our senior consultants sitting with us. Such a diverse range of people protested all around Wellington. We wanted to be counted for our principles and push for change.
I shared a flat with a bunch of women in Island Bay. We had a party one night, which is how I met my husband. The next day, he spent hours trying to find our flat and he made his friends try all these different places. That was over 40 years ago and he’s been very supportive ever since. It hasn’t always been easy, having a wife who works such long hours.
Whānau and work
To be a doctor is such a privilege, to listen to patients and be there for them when they need help. I started many years ago as a GP in Newtown when my daughter was four months old. We had some colossal failures with daycare and it wasn’t easy. It still isn’t for many whānau as it’s a luxury to have someone stay home.
My two wonderful sisters have also been there for me, although my children might have preferred me to have worked less and been home more.
Menopause Backlash
Menopause wasn’t even mentioned when I studied at medical school. So in 1994, a group of us launched The Wellington Menopause Clinic after recognising the serious lack of services. At the time, there was a huge backlash from some GPs.
They even signed a letter to try to get our lease broken. Maybe they were worried we’d take some of their business, but one in four women have moderate to severe symptoms, and they needed help and nothing was being done.
A simple swab, a big shift
Being part of bringing the HPV self-test programme to Aotearoa is a huge privilege for me. I carry self-test swabs everywhere I go and I hand them round so people can see them. Some men are hesitant to pick them up, but I’ve been waving this swab since 2017 and the uptake is strong. Eighty-one percent of women now choose the cervical screening self-test and that rate is rising. I can’t say enough about self-tests for smears and I’m very excited we can get rid of this horrible disease.
Recognition and responsibility
I was in Portugal speaking at an HPV conference when New Zealander of the Year was announced. Not one to enjoy being the centre of attention, but at 8am, I put on make-up and Zoomed in from my hotel. But that great honour wasn’t for me. It was for the team of incredible people who paddle this waka and we will use this honour as a platform to take our next steps. Like having the Government announce a fully resourced cervical cancer elimination strategy.
We’re not talking a lot of money, either. When that’s done, my next thing is maternity and perinatal harm, because there is a lot of work to be done with regards to the health of māmā and pēpi in that first year of life.
Prevention is power
I have wonderful whānau and friends. I meet with my two sisters and our extended whānau every week. I’ve always enjoyed sport and I’ve done Pump classes at Les Mills for over 20 years. I also love walking. One discovery I made a long time ago was solutions to the big problems can usually be found outside.
For our Government to support a cervical cancer elimination strategy, there are simple things we need to do.
Like vaccinating young people, our rangatahi, against HPV, then we can eliminate not just cervical cancer but most throat and anal cancers too. When I started in medicine, we didn’t know cervical cancer was caused by the HPV virus. It has been wonderful to be part of the team promoting vaccination and HPV screening.
Beyond the award
To do research and use the evidence to advocate for policy change. If I told you that a simple vaccine with very few, if any, side effects could save your child from certain cancers, wouldn’t you want to give them that incredible gift?
Being New Zealander of the Year comes with a responsibility to get the message across to the Minister of Health. That eliminating cervical cancer is within reach, but the Government needs to be onboard. When that’s done, we need to ask questions that will help reduce harm for māmā and pēpi in their first year of life because we will get results if we implement necessary changes. Which is why we desperately need funders to support us.
To celebrate this award, I had a lunch with my sisters. There were various other get-togethers, but mainly I’ve been trying to hide, even though people are lovely. Someone I don’t even know rushed up in the street to say congratulations. It is important that people know that this isn’t an award for me – this is for women’s health, which needs so much more attention.
Driving real change
I am just one of a cast of thousands who are dedicated to making a difference. One lesson I’ve learned as someone who has helped bring about change, if everyone gets on the waka and works together, making the right decisions, we can all move forward together.
As told to Elisabeth Easther To learn more about funding important health projects that will save women’s and babies lives.
To learn more about funding important health projects that will save women’s and babies lives, visit wgtn.ac.nz/engage/giving/donate/areas/national-centre-for-womens-health-research-aotearoa
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