AI to Enhance Breast Screening and Early Detection for Women in New Zealand

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is being explored as a way to support breast screening services and improve early detection for women across New Zealand, Health Minister Simeon Brown says.

AI is providing new opportunities to strengthen our healthcare system and deliver smarter, more responsive care for New Zealanders, Mr Brown says.

As part of this, Health New Zealand is inviting organisations with experience in AI image reading to outline how the technology could be safely and effectively used within BreastScreen Aotearoa.

This exploratory step is about understanding how best to ensure New Zealand women continue to have access to quality, future focused breast screening services.

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer for women in New Zealand. Around 3400 women are diagnosed each year, and approximately 270,000 women aged 45 to 69 are screened annually through BreastScreen Aotearoa.

As demand grows, we need to look at smarter ways to support our workforce and deliver faster, more reliable screening.

This is the first step in a validation process to understand how AI tools could support radiologists, reduce workload pressures, and improve patient outcomes, while maintaining strong clinical oversight and safety standards.

This work is focused on future-proofing breast screening so services remain accessible, patient-centred, and responsive to the needs of women.

AI is already being used internationally to assist with medical imaging. Exploring how it could complement the work of radiologists in New Zealand is an important step toward strengthening early detection and ensuring the long-term sustainability of screening services.

Health New Zealand will draw on advice from the health technology sector, engage with the breast screening workforce, and assess international examples of AI use in medical imaging.

The work builds on recent improvements to BreastScreen Aotearoa, including extending the screening age range to 74 and transitioning to a population based digital register.

At the heart of this work is one simple goal: enabling more women to access timely screening and giving them the best possible chance of early detection, Mr Brown says.