Increasing access to new cancer medicines
How new medicines are being made available as a result of the Government’s $604 million budget boost to Pharmac’s Combined Pharmaceutical Budget (CPB).In June 2024 the Government announced an unprecedented $604 million funding boost to Pharmac’s Combined Pharmaceutical Budget (CPB) over four years to increase cancer medicine availability. For the first time an additional $38 million was allocated for delivery of the new medicines in the first year. Additional budget may be released in future years if required.
The Increasing Access to Medicines Programme is a collaboration between Health New Zealand and Te Aho o Te Kahu, with support from the Ministry of Health and Pharmac. Our aim is to ensure that the newly funded cancer treatments, and the cancer care that people are currently receiving in the public health system, are successfully delivered in a well-functioning, equitable and responsive cancer service. We are also embedding future focused models of care that are more sustainable, resilient and responsive to local needs and that provide care closer to home.
Pharmac estimated that the additional $604m of funding would cover approximately:
- 26 cancer medicines for several cancers, including thyroid, bowel, breast, bladder, lung, head and neck, prostate, liver, ovarian, kidney and four different blood cancers. This includes treatments for all cancer types covered by the list of 13 cancer medicines proposed previously, and others not previously included (blood cancers).
- 28 other medicines for a wide range of conditions including infections, respiratory conditions, osteoporosis, sexual health, dermatology, inflammatory conditions, and mental health.
The first two cancer medicines to be funded are:
- Pembrolizumab (branded as Keytruda) will be funded from 1 October for eligible people with advanced triple-negative breast cancer, head and neck cancer, colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, and Hodgkin lymphoma.
- Nivolumab (branded as Opdivo) will be funded from 1 November for eligible people with kidney cancer.
Pharmac has also approved funding for widened access to the medicines posaconazole and voriconazole from 1 October for people at high risk of invasive fungal infections, such as people undergoing cancer treatment or organ transplants.
More information about these medicines is available on Pharmac’s website.
Which other medicines will be funded and when?
Pharmac is not able to name all the specific medicines that will be funded with the additional $604 million budget until the internal procurement process has been completed.
Before announcing a new medicine is going to be funded, Pharmac goes through a robust and fair process to identify which medicine is the next priority for funding. It then negotiates funding and supply terms with relevant medicine suppliers and publicly consults on the funding proposal. This is where people living with health conditions, health professionals, and the wider public are invited to provide feedback about the funding proposal, including any proposed funding criteria.
The latest updates on which cancer and non-cancer medicines are being considered for funding, or have been funded, under the budget increase is on the Pharmac website.
Rollout of new medicines across New Zealand begins - joint media statement Tuesday 1 October 2024
On Tuesday, we, along with Health New Zealand Te Whatu Ora, the Ministry of Health and Pharmac put out a joint statement on the rollout of the first medicines that are being made available across the public health system. You can read the full release here.
Our Tumuaki (Chief Executive) Rami Rahal was interviewed on Radio New Zealand that morning which you can listen to on the Radio New Zealand website.
Pharmac will announce decisions on which new medicines (including ones for cancer) Pharmac have been able to fund under the 2024 budget increase in the media and on their website.
You can also subscribe for email updates via Pharmac's website: www.pharmac.govt.nz/subscribe
When Pharmac announces that a new medicine will be funded, they will also announce a date when this funding decision will take effect. Refer to final funding decision notification on Pharmac’s website to see what date a medicine of interest to you will be available for your treating clinician prescribe. www.pharmac.govt.nz/medicine-funding-and-supply/funding-cancer-medicines)
If you think you are eligible to receive a newly funded medicine, you should talk to the clinician who is managing your cancer care. They will be able to advise you on the best treatment options for your cancer, taking into consideration your health history and the stage of your cancer journey.
The team at Pharmac are working hard to progress the funding of new medicines from the Options for Investment List (the list of medicines they would fund in priority order with available budget) following the required processes that involves negotiating with suppliers and public consultation.
Health New Zealand and Te Aho o Te Kahu are also working hard with the clinician community to ensure the health system can smoothly and effectively provide newly funded medicines while also continuing quality care for those already receiving cancer care in the system.
While the aim is to get medicines funded and available to eligible New Zealander as soon as possible, the budget boost provided by Government to Pharmac and Health New Zealand covers a 4-year period.
We have put together an information sheet for people to explain the medicines funding and implementation process in more detail, which you can read here.
If you have questions regarding the funding of any medicines, you can email enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz. You may wish to subscribe for Pharmac's regular email updates via their website: www.pharmac.govt.nz/subscribe
If you have questions on the implementation process, please email info@teaho.govt.nz. We aim to respond to you within ten working days.
This funding will be used to recruit the additional qualified kaimahi (staff) needed to treat people with the new medicines, and to carry out the extra radiology and laboratory tests needed to accurately plan and monitor a patient's progress. For example, we are currently running a streamlined recruitment process to recruit more medical oncologists, oncology nurses and pharmacists.
We are working closely with clinicians across the regions to identify the staffing required for each community's needs. This includes looking for opportunities to test ways to provide people with cancer care closer to home.