Petition organiser buoyed by support in Wellington

Gisborne woman Theresa Zame (centre front, with poster saying “Punishing our most vulnerable”) delivered a 5800-strong petition to Parliament on Wednesday, protesting proposed changes to the country’s medicine laws. Picture supplied

A Gisborne woman fighting proposed medicine law changes is buoyed by the support she received during a recent trip to Parliament to present her petition.

Theresa Zame was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in June 2022, but has outlived her prognosis thanks to an unfunded medicine she imports from overseas.

If the Therapeutic Products Bill goes through unamended, she will no longer be able to import the lifesaving drugs she currently accesses from Bangladesh.

Zame organised a petition in response to the bill and clocked up more than 5800 signatures by the time it expired late last month.

On Wednesday, she said around 200 people joined her to march on Parliament as she submitted the petition, with the help of Waimakariri National MP and health select committee member Matt Doocey.

“It went really well. It was fantastic . . . the number of people that were there,” Zame said of the event.

After processing the petition in Wellington, she then sat in the public gallery to watch it be presented.

“It was a really proud moment, and just an awesome team effort to get that far.”

Speaking to the house, Doocey said Zame describes herself as vulnerable and “just a mum from Gizzy”.

But he said she was “incredibly courageous, brave and strong”.

“It would be very easy when you get a diagnosis … to contemplate giving up the fight.

“But in fact Theresa Zame has done the opposite. She’s galvanised many voices in New Zealand.”

Zame is aware of 47 other New Zealanders who access Tagrix — a generic version of a more expensive drug — via humanitarian business Hope Pharma Connections.

The drug costs her around $1000 a month, which is about 10 times less than the unfunded version Tagrisso.

She is confident amendments will be made to the bill to allow continued importation, but her next step is to fight for Tagrisso to be more readily accessible.

“We won’t stop,” she said.

Health Minister Ayesha Verrall will get a report from the Ministry of Health on the submissions and proposed amendments to the bill this month.

The bill is set to replace the Medicines Act 1981.