Ms Ruth Davy, of Auckland, ONZM for services to nursing and women’s health
Ms Ruth Davy is a leading figure in women’s health, nursing and public health leadership. She led the foundation of the Well Women’s Nursing Service, now the Well Women and Family Trust (WWFT), and established New Zealand’s first mobile van service for women’s health, which provided free health checks and education in hard-to-reach communities. Through WWFT, 2,400 women receive health checks annually, including cervical and breast screening, sexual healthcare and infection testing. Ms Davy became the first independent nurse smear-taker, and led WWFT to become an NZQA-approved cervical smear-taker training organisation. She improved screening for Māori, Pacific and Asian women who missed regular care, and introduced frameworks for nurse training in cultural competency. She helped found two Asian health organisations, and has empowered Māori and Pacific women to be community health promoters.