New research has reinforced previous studies that a self-administered cervical test could save women's lives.
About 900 women from the Te Tai Tokerau Northland region were involved in the new Victoria University study, which focuses on Maori women.
Almost 60 per cent of Maori women took the Human Papilloma Virus self-test when offered it - about three times more women than those offered the standard cervical smear.
Professor Bev Lawton, a senior author of the study, says she expects that improvement to be seen in all women.
