United Future

Hi Judy,
I trust UnitedFuture has a great 2008.

I do agree with your comments on Parmac. I recieved subsized perscription and am grateful.

I am concerned though that women with Breast Cancer cannot get the drug they need which is readily available in Australia for treatment.( have no knowledge here of what they call it.)I have a close friend who went through Cancer of the Breast and wish they had this kind of treatment available.

Otherwise, great to hear your work done behind the media hype. I trust things will improve 2008.

Good point Quentin, and the case you mention is exactly the kind of issue the strategy seeks to address.
HOWEVER we need to be mindful that we will always have some sort of rationing in health and health officials all over the world struggle with this.

Don't know if you read page B5 of the Herald this weekend but there is yet another example of an asthma drug that is still not widely available in NZ but readily available in Australia

Does NZ spend enough on pharmaceuticals from our health budget?
Could we make further savings (e.g. by reducung the number of hospitalisations) by making better use of new generation drugs?

We need to not just be asking 'how much will this medicine cost' BUT 'how much will it cost us if we don't provide it?'

You raise exactly the kind of issue that the strategy seeks to address.
HOWEVER it would be unreasonable if we didn't acknowledge that there will always be rationing in health and officials world wide struggle with this very question.
read page B5 of this weekends Herald to see the story of a lady who hit problems getting the asthma inhaler she needed.

Do we spend enough of our health budget on pharmaceuticals?
Are the savings that could be made (e.g. on less hospital admissions) if we gave NZ'ers better access to new generation drugs?

Shouldn't we be not asking how much a drug costs but how much will it cost us as a country if we don't provide it?

Does the medicine strategy address the knowledge gap between research and what GPs and other medical professionals know? There are 1500 peer reviewed articles in medicine published every day - no one person could keep up with it. If more medicines, able to target specific needs better, are to be available through Pharmac it is imperative that GPs are given the time and resources to stay informed.

One of the actions proposed under the Strategy is looking at establishing a national formulary which would include links to a comprehensive medicines reference source to help ensure GPs and other health professionals are kept informed of new medicines. There will also be more emphasis on ongoing professional education for GPs, practice nurses, and pharmamcists on all matters relating to medicines management.