An Instagram influencer has shared her diagnosis with a sexually transmitted disease to try and break the stigma for other people experiencing the same thing.
Jade Tuncdoruk, 25, was diagnosed with human papillomavirus (HPV) after a cervical screening test earlier this year.
This week she had surgery to remove the abnormal tissue, sharing the diagnosis and treatment process with her 450,000 Instagram followers
"I hadn't really seen any other women speak openly about this," she told ABC News.
"There's a stigma around contracting sexually transmitted viruses that scares people into silence and that silence and lack of information can actually in rare cases, be fatal."
The influencer said she would have had no idea anything was wrong if she hadn't had the test. Without surgery, the cells may have developed into cervical cancer.
"The screenings are there because this is all preventative if caught early. The process isn't half as bad as you might think... you aren't alone in this," Tuncdoruk said.
Since posting she has received overwhelming support from other women, many of whom are going through a similar process.
"Thank you so much for sharing this," one woman wrote. "Because of you I had a cervical screening test last week and I have abnormal cells and need to go through the same process.
"I wouldn't have done this without you bringing awareness."
"I have my operation in two weeks," another wrote. "Thanks for making me feel less scared about it - I really really needed it. I hope you're OK."
While New Zealand women are lagging behind when it comes to getting the HPV vaccine, recent research showed it's working.
"Women who had been vaccinated had a 31 percent reduction in the risk of developing a high-grade precancerous abnormality of the cervix by age 24," said associate professor Peter Sykes, who led the research in January this year.
The HPV vaccine was introduced in 2008, initially just for women born in 1990 and 1991. It was quickly expanded to cover everyone born from 1992 onwards. In 2017 a new version was released, fully subsidised for men and women up to the age of 26.
