Opposition decries incremental change as New Zealand government defends Pharmac budget

Pharma News: New Zealand’s Associate Health Minister has made headlines by unveiling Pharmac’s largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years. However, the Opposition has questioned the necessity of the additional funds for the Pharmac budget to “stand still”.

In New Zealand, it takes an average of 583 days from registration of a new medicine to patients receiving reimbursed access. This far exceeds the average time in other comparable OECD nations, including Japan, Germany, UK and Australia.

Associate Health Minister, David Seymour, said “Access to medicines is a crucial part of many Kiwis’ lives. We’ve committed to a budget allocation of $1.774 billion over four years so Kiwis are able to access the medicines they need to live a fulfilling life.

“Upon assuming the role of Associate Health Minister, I was informed by Pharmac that they were facing a $1.774 billion shortfall over the next four years. This deficit occurred because Labour neglected to budget for medicines, creating a significant fiscal challenge.

“In Labour’s fiscal plan, they allocated $180 million annually. However, the true cost to secure Pharmac’s budget was over $400 million per year. This lack of funding jeopardised New Zealanders by potentially causing Pharmac to delist medicines, thereby reducing access to vital healthcare.”

However, Labour Health spokesperson Ayesha Verrall criticised the New Zealand government’s actions, stating “The government has increased Pharmac funding but conceded it will only make minimal increases in access to medicine. This is far from the bold promises made to fund cancer medicines pre-election.”

She further added “Associate Minister of Health David Seymour has asserted there is a ‘$1.774 billion fiscal cliff’. The actual figure published in the pre-election update was $724M and David Seymour is trying to gloss over $1.050 billion of increased costs at Pharmac. David Seymour needs to explain why an additional estimated $1.050 billion needs to be spent for the Pharmac budget to stand still.

“Hopeful patients and advocates will welcome this funding – but David Seymour needs to be up front with them about how far it will go.”

CANGO*, an alliance of leading New Zealand cancer charities, stated “Although this is Pharmac’s biggest budget ever, significantly more is needed. Incremental change will not address medicines currently sitting on the options for funding list, considered standard of care in other countries or New Zealand sitting at the bottom of the OCED for medicine access.”

“No new drugs have been funded for bowel cancer in over twenty years, and this budget won’t change that. Nor will it lift New Zealand from its current position at the bottom of the OECD for medicine access,” added a spokesperson from Bowel Cancer NZ.

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*Breast Cancer Foundation NZ, Bowel Cancer New Zealand, Cancer Society of New Zealand, Gut Cancer Foundation, Ovarian Cancer Foundation, Leukaemia & Blood Cancer New Zealand, Melanoma New Zealand, Prostate Cancer Foundation of New Zealand and Unicorn Foundation of New Zealand