Te Aho O Te Kahu Welcomes The Release Of The Pharmac Review Panel’s Final Report

Te Aho o Te Kahu, the Cancer Control Agency, welcomes the recommendations related to cancer medicines in the Pharmac Review Panel’s final report.

“Equitable access to effective cancer medicines is an essential part of cancer control,” Chief Executive of Te Aho o Te Kahu, Dr Diana Sarfati said.

“We hope to see tangible improvements for people living with cancer across Aotearoa as a result of this review.”

The issue of cancer medicines funding in Aotearoa is addressed in the report, with the Panel making three recommendations specifically regarding cancer medicines.

The first two address whether cancer medicines should be funded differently to other medicines.

“Ultimately, the Panel has recommended that cancer medicines be considered in the same way as other medicines are.

“We understand the rationale behind this decision given the demands on Pharmac and the competing priorities it has to balance.

“Currently, cancer medicines already have an accelerated pathway for consideration by Pharmac.”

The third cancer-specific recommendation is that Pharmac work with Te Aho o Te Kahu to enable closer integration with the cancer sector, with a focus on ensuring equitable access to funded cancer medicines.

“As the agency responsible for providing leadership across the entire spectrum of cancer control, we are uniquely placed to support Pharmac to better connect with the cancer health sector.

“This is something we are already doing and look forward to increasing this partnership in future.”

A report released recently by Te Aho o Te Kahu identified at least 20 different particularly substantial gaps in funding across cancer medicines for solid tumours, and when blood cancers are taken into consideration, there are likely to be several more.

“Our recent analysis showed that there are opportunities to improve the range of medicines funded here in Aotearoa, and we are pleased to see that through the recent Budget announcements, Pharmac is now in a position to progress some of these options.

“We will continue to work with Pharmac to ensure those living with cancer get access to the best and most effective cancer medications.”

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