June 25, 2024
Piggy bank broken for cancer drug promise
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Cabinet has scrambled to find more money for Pharmac so it can deliver on National’s election promise on cancer drugs.
It will give the drug buying agency an extra $604 million over four years to cover up to 54 new medicines including 26 cancer treatments.
Health Minister Shane Reti says the some of the treatments would be available from October or November, with more phased in over the next year.
“Of the 13 cancer treatments listed in 2023, up to seven will be includd, and the others will be replaced by alternatives just as good or better. This means treatments for all the cancers in the pre-election manfesto list are included, including for blood cancers. Altogether Pharmac estimates around 175,000 people will benefit from the additional medicines in the first 12 months,” Dr Reti says.
The money is a pre-commitment against next year’s Budget, and is separate to the $5.48 billion over four years pre-committed from Budget 2025 to Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora.
Patient Voice Aotearoa spokesperson Malcolm Mulholland has welcomed an extra money going to Pharmac.
He says the Government is doing the right thing after the outrage when the money was missing from this year’s Budget.
“It is a good announcement, and I’m just chuffed that a 175,000 Kiwis will get access to the medicines that they so desperately need,” he says.
Mr Mullholland says a key lesson for any Government is that funding medicines is always a good news story.