Modern medicines are paying for themselves.

A $1 investment in diabetes medicines leads to $7 in health, economic and societal benefits.

$1 spent on modern medicines saves between $3 and $10 on hospitalisation for chronic conditions such as heart failure, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.

It's similar for new cancer medicines. $1 spent on medicines is estimated to save $1 in reduced hospitalisations in New Zealand’s health system.

The New Zealand health system is currently undergoing significant reform.

Currently we are waiting for the release of the final Pharmac Review report and the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill. The legislation underpinning the operation of the health system, including Pharmac, is being pushed through parliament as part of a once in a generation restructure.

The Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) bill is expected to come into force on July 1^st, 2022. 

Unfortunately, as it is now, the current Bill will fail all five of the health system principles that it is intended to establish regarding medicines access and equity.

Despite the findings of the Pharmac Review Interim Report, the statutory objectives and requirements under which Pharmac operates in the current Bill remain largely the same as they have been for the past two and a half decades.
 

New Zealand patients and the health system are still waiting to get better access to modern medicines. For them to get this access, changes need to happen to the Bill before it is passed through Parliament. There needs to be sufficient opportunity for the Final Report from the Pharmac review panel to be considered, followed by the necessary amendments to the draft Pae Ora Bill before Pharmac’s statutory objectives and functions under the future health system are confirmed in legislation.

Medicines New Zealand made submissions in both oral and written formats regarding the Pae Ora Bill.

Click here to read Medicines New Zealand’s written submission on the Pae Ora Bill.

Click here to watch Medicines New Zealand’s oral submission to the Pae Ora Legislation Committee (fast forward the video to 10.55 minutes).

Pharmac is the Crown entity in New Zealand that purchases medicines for the New Zealand health system. They decide what medicines to publicly fund for New Zealanders with the budget that the Government allocates them. 

Pharmac is currently undergoing an independent review. The review is considering the timeliness of Pharmac’s decision making (for modern medicines), the transparency and accessibility of decision-making processes, and equity, including access to medicines and devices for Māori and Pacific peoples. Pharmac’s fixed budget that is enshrined in legislation is out of the scope of the review.

The interim report, released in December 2021, found poor timeliness of decision-making and low transparency of processes around decision making, as well as inequity for Māori and Pacific patients in accessing modern medicines. We and other stakeholders  await the final report, which contains a number of recommendations,  with interest.  This final report was submitted to the Minister of Health on 28 February 2022 by the Review Committee.

If New Zealand does not get Pharmac’s settings right, patients and the health system will continue to miss out on modern cost-effective medicines. New Zealand is currently last among 20 comparable OECD countries for access to modern medicines. Kiwi patients deserve the same access to modern medicines that patients in other countries do. Where you live should not determine if your life is valued. 

Other countries look at the same evidence for a medicine and decide to fund it, why doesn’t New Zealand?

• A modern medicines strategy and a new  medicines plan
  The current medicines strategy in New Zealand is 15 years old. The plan based on the strategy expired in 2020. Without an up-to-date strategy and new plan, how does the Government know if New Zealand is providing patients with the medicines they need, when they need them?
  The answer? They don’t! This is a significant issue which needs to be addressed immediately.
   
• A rapid access scheme for modern medicines.This scheme would allow patients to access  proven modern medicines, while the funding application is going through the Pharmac decision-making process. Doing nothing is not an option.  Timely access to modern medicines is important to retain trust and confidence in our publicly funded healthcare system.
   
• Faster timelines for decision making and funding of medicines
  Currently, New Zealand is falling behind. Our ‘cousin country’ Australia not only publicly funds more modern medicines but does it faster too.
  New Zealand should have specific timelines to meet when deciding whether to fund modern medicine, but it doesn’t.
   

Currently, proven medicines that are funded in many other OECD countries around the world languish on a waiting list with no certainty that they will ever be publicly funded for New Zealand patients.