Patient advocates say Pharmac’s decision to seek feedback on its funding of paediatric cancer medicines marks a "dark day" for Aotearoa.
Currently, under rule 8.1b of the Pharmaceutical Schedule, all medicine used to treat cancer in paediatrics is automatically funded without a Pharmac assessment. It’s been in place since 2005 when Pharmac took over funding decisions for cancer treatments.
Now Pharmac’s chief executive Sarah Fitt says they’re revisiting this.
“Concerns have been raised around it’s fairness when compared with other populations and conditions, and the growth in costs of new cancer medicines," she said.
“We want to hear from a range of people and perspectives so we fully understand the management of paediatric cancer care and the impact rule 8.1b has. Feedback will help us understand if this funding approach needs to change.”
Patience Voice Aotearoa’s Fiona Tolich says she’s gobsmacked it’s even up for consultation.
“We’re talking about the possibility of changing something that is working for one incredibly vulnerable group of sick kids, and we’re looking at taking that away," she said.
“What the hell is wrong with us.”
Fitt has acknowledged this is a difficult thing to talk about but is also an important discussion to have. While there’s been improvement for health outcomes for children with cancer over the last few decades, she explains it’s unclear to what extend rule 8.1b has contributed to this.
“In 2020, about 93% of medicines used to treat cancer in a paediatric setting were already listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule, so rule 8.1b is not used very often. However, the medicines funded through rule 8.1b accounted for about half the cost of all paediatric cancer treatments.”
But Tolich argues the success in child’s cancer treatment is much better when compared with other age groups, and it makes no sense to rethink a system that’s actually working.
“It’s the one area of cancer where health outcomes are better than Australia, and we’re consulting on that, to put them in line with areas where we are underperforming on global stage.”
Consultation is open today until Wednesday 14 December.
SHARE ME