New Zealand sits at the bottom of the western world for access to modern medicines. Pharmac decide what drugs we buy and when. So why aren’t Kiwis getting the medicines they need? Listen to Rachel Smalley discuss this topic: Rachel Smalley. NZ’s Shameful Health SecretContinue Reading
It takes the nation’s drug-buying agency, Pharmac, an average of 7.7 years to make funding decisions about potentially life-saving medicines, a report has found. The Pharmac’s Medicines Waiting Lists: Impacts on Patients in Aotearoa New Zealand report, commissioned by lobby group Medicines New Zealand found it took on an average nearly eight years to reach a decision on applications across...Continue Reading
Myeloma New Zealand has started a campaign to press Pharmac into funding a treatment that has been standard-of-care throughout the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for more than five years. Myeloma NZ trustee Nichola Oakenfull has been interviewed for the article, well done Nichola! Here is the RNZ article: https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/474629/blood-cancer-patient-charity-campaigns-for-pharmac-to-fund-medicineContinue Reading
MEDIA RELEASE 7 September 2022 New Zealanders living with multiple myeloma, a deadly, relapsing/remitting blood cancer, are mounting a major, evidence-based campaign to press Pharmac into funding a transformative treatment that has been standard-of-care throughout the OECD for more than 5 years. Myeloma patient and trustee of Myeloma NZ Nichola Oakenfull says patients who’ve...Continue Reading
OPINION: How long does it take you to make a decision about whether or not to buy something? You’ve got all the information in front of you. You know it’s a good product. It works. You need it. And you’ve got the money to buy it. So how long will it take? What if I said...Continue Reading
MEDIA RELEASE DOCTOR CALLS ON MINISTER LITTLE TO RELEASE ‘BURIED’ INDEPENDENT REPORT ON PHARMAC The final report of the Independent Pharmac Review Panel has been sitting with Health Minister Andrew Little since February, with no reason offered for why it has not been released, says Myeloma NZ Chief Executive Dr Ken Romeril. “Given the damning...Continue Reading
