Funding boost means more medicines for more New Zealanders

Pharmac welcomes the Government’s funding boost which will see about 175,000 more people receiving the medicines they need in the first year.

The Government is allocating Pharmac an additional $604 million over 4 years to fund or widen access to many more medicines, including cancer medicines. More details are in the Ministers’ media release.

Pharmac Chief Executive Sarah Fitt says the work to deliver the additional medicines will start immediately.

“A lot of work happens behind the scenes so that as soon as funding becomes available, we’re ready to go.”

The next step for Pharmac involves working through the medicines on its Options for Investment (OFI) list to determine which medicines to progress. It will then begin negotiating with suppliers, and consulting publicly.

“We’re always looking for ways to stretch the Pharmac budget by making good commercial deals and freeing up savings that can be used elsewhere. This significant uplift will allow us to do even more and to make life changing differences for many more New Zealanders.”