CANGO is an alliance of 10 prominent cancer charities that collectively represents most cancers and cancer patients in New Zealand.

CANGO would welcome a budget uplift of $150M per year over four years for Pharmac as this partially covers the estimated $490M per year required to clear the more than 90 medicines awaiting funding on the Options for Investment list. This will bring us a step closer to achieving medicine expenditure on par with comparable nations, noting that a significant gap still exists.

However, we expect that any further announcement will address the following uncertainties and concerns:

• Patients must be given absolute assurance that they will receive access to the same or better versions of the 13 medicines listed, ensuring that no patient relying on these promises is left out and that the commitment to deliver for these patients this year is honoured.
• If the Government defers to Pharmac to execute on this policy through usual processes, Pharmac’s cost-containment drivers cannot result in delays in medicines funding, nor the prioritisation of less-effective medicines at lower costs.
• The original promise of delivering medicines that bridge the gap in access between Australia and New Zealand based on the significance of clinical benefit must be delivered.

Importantly, this is only a start. Pharmac’s Options for Investment list is only a subset of the modern medicines used in clinical practice internationally. The Government must create a right-sized medicines budget and a fit-for-purpose model to ensure kiwis can quickly access the treatment they need.

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