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Health sector groups say New Zealand needs to increase its funding of high cost and highly specialised medicines.
Released today, the report says, specialist medicines, including drugs for arthritis, breast cancer and dementia, needed to be more affordable and accessible.
The report comes after a forum held in June by consumer organisations, including the Cancer Society, Arthritis NZ, Alzheimers New Zealand, academics, patients, clinicians, officials from the Ministry of Health and Pharmac and research organisations.
New Zealand was significantly behind other developed OECD countries when it came to providing access to specialised medicines, it said.
The report has recommended there needs to be a significant funding increase to bring New Zealand into line with the OECD average.
New mechanisms needed to be developed to enable access to high cost, highly-specialised medicines.
Operations needed to improve within Pharmac, the government's drug-buying company, to access the medicine.
There needed to be a strengthened and more independent consumer group to advise Pharmac.
The lack of accessibility to the specialised medicines was already a serious issue for patients and clinicians, the report said.
Arthritis New Zealand chief executive officer Sandra Kirby said New Zealand had slipped behind comparable countries in access to specialist medicines.
"For example New Zealanders with one type of arthritis are having to pay $25,000 a year or miss out on medicines which Australians get for free."
While Pharmac was present at the forum and participated in the discussion, it said it did not agree with the outcomes of the report.
- NZPA
