Associate Health Minister David Seymour says he’s proud of the Government’s commitment to increasing medicines access for New Zealanders, resulting in a big uptick in the number of medicines being funded.
“The Government is putting patients first. In the first half of the current financial year there were more new medicines funded than the entire financial year prior.
“Increasing availability of medicines has always been a priority of mine.
“Access to pharmaceuticals for many is life or death, or the difference between a life of pain and suffering or living freely.”
Seymour says the coalition Government has allocated Pharmac its largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, and a $604 million uplift.
“When Pharmac is given the financial support it needs to carry out its functions – negotiating the best deals for medicine for New Zealanders – it does so effectively, as shown in 2024.
“More financial support means more buying power for Pharmac to deliver for Kiwis, as shown in Pharmac’s negotiations with AstraZeneca for a savvy multi-product deal.
“In the first half of the current financial year (since June, 2024) Pharmac expanded access to 34 new medicines. That’s six more than the entire 2023/2024 financial year.”
Included in those 34 new medicines are Pembrolizumab (branded as Keytruda) and Cetuximab (branded as Erbitux).
Continuous Glucose Monitors have also been funded since August for nearly 12,295 Kiwis with type 1 diabetes.
“2024 also saw Pharmac increase its contracted medical devices for hospitals to $640m on medical devices for hospitals, almost $100m more than 2023,” Seymour says.
“That includes nearly $50m in national contract expenditure for medical devices, including major contracts for sterilisation, surgical implants, anaesthetic machines, and more.”
