Women across New Zealand say they feel "frustrated" and "left in the lurch" as the country continues to face an ongoing shortage of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) treatments.
A global spike in demand and supply chain issues from Covid-19 have been blamed for a lack of stock over the past three years.
HRT can be prescribed in pill form, or as a patch which sticks to the body. The treatment is used to help manage the symptoms of menopause, replacing low levels of oestrogen and progesterone.
Jane Felgate Payne has been using HRT patches, Estradot, since 2021.
"I was getting hot flushes, mainly during the night and not sleeping well. So I approached my GP to find out what I could do basically," she said.
She's one of more than 60,000 people currently using HRT in New Zealand, with some women forced to chop up their patches, or ration them, due to the low stock levels.
"Every time I've since gone to get another prescription, a three month prescription, you only get the one box which is for four weeks, so yeah, you are drip fed them basically.
"It doesn't really seem fair that there is a shortage and it's been so for the two years that I've been taking it."
Director of Operations for Pharmac, Lisa Williams, said the number of people using HRT in New Zealand has soared in recent years.
"For the last two years in New Zealand, the increase in demand has been sort of 40 to 45 per cent each year," she said.
"A lot of work has been happening about educating prescribers and treaters about menopause and the need for hormonal replacement therapy. It's a dramatic rise which makes it hard for suppliers to forecast and meet that increase in demand."
GPs and pharmacists are also feeling the pressure of the HRT shortfall.
"The problem with this is it's been in short supply for a long time, so it's really difficult for us to go it's okay, it will come right when it hasn't come right for several years now," Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners president Samantha Murton said.
Pharmac is expecting more deliveries of HRT at the end of the month, but is not yet clear on the total quantities.
The agency is now looking for alternative treatments to give patients more options.
"We are scouring the world to basically find alternative brands of patches and trying to get access to them for New Zealand, we are also looking to whether or not other forms of oestrogen could be secured and funded in New Zealand."
SHARE ME