Damning report slates New Zealand medicines' regime
11 May 2007

New Zealand's medicines policies are only on a par with those of emerging countries like the Czech Republic and Poland according to a report published today by the internationally respected Karolinksa Institute.

"This is a matter for national shame and embarrassment," says the Researched Medicines Industry Association (RMI) chair, Dr Pippa MacKay.

The report, published in the prestigious Annals of Oncology, is an update and extension of research published in 2005, which had originally compared access to oncology medicines in EU countries. This report now includes a range of countries, including New Zealand.

"It is nothing short of damning but should be a positive shot in the arm for the potential outcome of Hon Peter Dunne's New Zealand Medicines Strategy," Dr MacKay commented.

"It tells the world exactly what the Access to Medicines Coalition, other patient groups, clinicians and the pharmaceutical industry have been telling Government for years:

- Public investment in medicines is extremely low in comparison with other countries, and
- The drugs' appraisal processes for safety, efficacy and funding take far too long, again when compared other comparable countries" she said.

"If this wasn't bad enough in the internationally embarrassing stakes, the report tells us that there have been no meaningful statistics published by the Ministry of Health regarding pharmaceuticals and cancer for five years.

"How on earth can we expect to measure the outcomes of our health services if there aren't any reliable metrics to measure them by?" Pippa MacKay asked.

"Then, we look at Government's own Health Strategy priorities; cancer control is amongst the 13 top issues. The Cancer Control Strategy published in August 2003 states what Government is supposedly doing to control and treat cancer. It says, under section 3, that there should be "timely and appropriate access to new medicines".

"Well, international, objective comparison now tells us that Government is failing to meet its own objectives in the NZ Health Strategy and the Cancer Control Strategy.

"A quarter of deaths in New Zealand are as a result of cancer, yet the modern medicines that can help patients with this frightening disease are either not available to them, or if they are, there tends to be serious restrictions on just who is allowed access to them and how much they may be prescribed."

Dr MacKay said this situation is an indictment on the government and its officials. "While Vote Health has steadily increased over the years, the budget for much needed medicines has flat lined. Therefore we see this sad and embarrassing expose of our performance in caring for those who need modern medicines."

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