Pharmac's review of childhood cancer drug funding
Read Child Cancer Foundation's submission to Pharmac in regards to their review of rule 8.1b of the Pharmaceutical Schedule.
Pharmac is currently going through a review in relation to the funding of paediatric cancer medicines in New Zealand. They are seeking feedback about rule 8.1b of the Pharmaceutical Schedule, a unique exception that means any medicine used to treat paediatric cancer is automatically funded without a Pharmac assessment.
We believe that rule 8.1b has played an important part in the provision of a world-class, equitable child oncology treatment pathway in Aotearoa/New Zealand and are extremely concerned that new medicines may not be funded if Pharmac make changes to the rule. We will keep you updated as the consultation progresses.
Dr Stephen Laughton & Dr Andy Wood’s presentation to the Health Select Committee
On 10 May, Dr Stephen Laughton and Dr Andy Wood, both paediatric oncologists at Starship’s Blood & Cancer Centre, briefed the Health Select Committee on Pharmac’s review of Rule 8.1b. They shared their concerns with Pharmac’s review and answered questions from the Committee.
This video was originally shared by the Health Select Committee on 10 May 2023 via Facebook live. See the full video here.
Child Cancer Foundation’s submission
Feedback submissions to the initial consultation closed at 9am, Monday 27 March 2023.
As part of Child Cancer Foundation’s mission to advance improvements to childhood cancer care and advocate for the best possible treatment options for Kiwi kids, our priority throughout this review process was to ensure that the families we support would have their voices heard.
We have undertaken extensive consultation with our parent community, including a parents’ forum, submission writing support, parent video interviews and sharing our draft submission for feedback with our membership. As such, this submission represents the views of the many parents who participated in the forums and the other activities the Foundation supported.
“We currently have a system that achieves world-class outcomes for very little resource; why would we want to change this?” – Monica Briggs, CEO Child Cancer Foundation
- You can read our full submission here.
Find out more about Rule 8.1b
If you would like to know more about rule 8.1b and find out how you can take action, watch the recording below from our panel discussion on Monday 12 December, 2022.
You will hear from a panel of experts in different areas relating to this issue:
- Dr Andy Wood and Dr Stephen Laughton, paediatric oncologists at the Starship Blood & Cancer Centre.
- Kerri Morgan, mother of a child who has benefited from paediatric oncology medicine as a result of rule 8.1b.
- Dr Jo Cribb, policy and advocacy expert.
Click below to watch the recording:
