Pharmac proposes Kadcyla, for HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer, will be made publicly available by December 1. File photo / Supplied
While our politicians jockey for a place in the Pharmac cancer funding debacle, citizens of this country struck with this vile disease are going to an early grave every day because of their inability to fund the necessary drugs.
It seems to me there was a
stalemate on the progress of the new and proven drugs Kadcyla and Ibrance to be accepted by Pharmac, until Simon Bridges offered $200 million specifically for cancer treatments.
Not even two weeks after his statement, Jacinda gets Pharmac to fund Kadcyla. But you have to still be around on December 1 to get this drug, a big ask if you are stage 4 and broke. No mention of Ibrance.
I consider myself fortunate as we have some savings that will pay for my wife's treatment until November, after that I have a small boat I can sell to pay for more treatment and, when all that has gone, will we have to sell our family home. A good prognosis for my wife I would think to be maybe three years or so, with the drugs. I will have paid around $16,000 in GST for the drugs over that time and that really irks me as that would cover nearly three months' treatment.
Ray Newton, Whitianga.
My father was a senior government employee up until the mid 1980s. No one at all was allowed to receive gifts or donations from any source. Political influence is clearly rampant and should be of concern (NZ Herald, August 27). Particularly when the head of GCSB states that banning political donations will just drive them underground. What happened to our integrity?
K S Agar, Onehunga.
The gap between rich and poor in New Zealand has been dramatically increased in recent generations. I wonder how much of that is due to the current policy of making increases a percentage of the existing wage? This, while it sounds as though everyone benefits equally, actually has the opposite effect. It would be far fairer to decide how much the percentage increase would actually come to for those on the average wage, and then give everyone that exact amount. If it came to an annual increase of $1000, that would be far more beneficial to those on the lowest wage while those on the highest would have no grounds for complaint as they would be getting exactly the same.
Jeanette Grant, Mt Eden.
I totally agree with Dr Art Nahill on a rethink of the broken healthcare model (NZ Herald, August 28). As he says, more government funding alone will not fix the problem.
As a nurse who trained many years ago in the hospital-based apprentice system, one of the answers is very simple.
Bring back the hospital-based system where nurses are trained while working and are paid a small salary. Not all roles in hospitals or the community require only registered nurses.
After two or three years training, they can choose to stay as a registered nurse and be paid an applicable salary or can undergo further post graduate technical Institute training to specialise in areas such as ICU, neonatal, theatre, preventative and primary care, etc.
After qualifying at the end of their post graduate training, they would be able to perform tasks currently performed by doctors, both in the hospital and primary care areas, and be paid an applicable larger salary.
This change would have a two-fold solution; make staffing the hospitals cheaper with the apprentice system, and give post graduate trained nurses an incentive to stay in the system, by giving them more responsibility and job satisfaction, and be paid a salary applicable to their skills.
Linda Robert, Parnell.
Older chocolate lovers may remember Ray Henwood as "the Moro Man" (NZ Herald, August 28). When Cadbury launched their new Moro bar in the late 1960s Ray Henwood appeared on TV sitting alone on a stool and urging viewers join him in trying to eat Cadbury out of Moro Bars. This was a spectacularly successful campaign, helped greatly by Ray's delightful Welsh accent and appealing personality.
Mike Groves, East Tamaki Heights.
Revive our Gulf has received $400,000 to help clean up the polluted waters of the Hauraki Gulf (NZ Herald, August 28) and the funding will be used to seed green-lipped mussels. Our shellfish beds have been in decline for years due to over harvesting and pollution.
Cockle Bay is in a unique position, taking all the stormwater and runoff from a large area of Howick. This includes silt, heavy metals and sewer overflows during heavy rain.
These shellfish perform a vital role in filtering water and improving the water quality and must be left so the beds can grow and increase in area to help restore balance to the ecosystem. Every low tide, it is not uncommon to see up to 70 people collecting on week days and 300 per day on a busy weekend. This valuable resource must be protected and the beach closed.
We are in the process of establishing a community shellfish monitoring programme to get a better understanding of shellfish numbers and, with community stewardship programmes and good property management, we believe it will lead to the beach being able to reopen in the future. Although Cockle Bay has a seasonal closure for harvesting from October to April 30, numbers are overall still in decline.
Barry Wood, Cockle Bay.
It comes as no surprise that measles has increased (NZ Herald, August 29) due to the hysterical anti-vaccination brigade.
This was always going to happen, where we gave choice and personal responsibility to people who believed it was their right not to be vaccinated. We are now back-pedalling big time. To turn this around is going to take a very long time.
To find ourselves, schools more so, having to spend time and energy on enforcing an immunisation status, is an appalling state of affairs.
Vaccinations should be compulsory. It is a moral responsibility.
John Ford, Taradale.
I love Matt Heath's gleeful exuberance (NZ Herald, August 27) in extolling New Zealander's to have a "Trump detox". As an American who regularly feels my arteries hardening, not from too much cholesterol but from too much toxic garbage emanating from Potus, I couldn't agree more. However, it unfortunately does have something to do with the everyday lives of New Zealanders, as evidenced by the performance of the S&P/NZX 50 the following day. Investors worldwide hate uncertainty, and the Dow Jones and other markets have been experiencing heart palpitations since the tweeter in chief started his school yard scrap with America's biggest goods trading partner, China. He may not be able to bully his way out of this one, as the US trade deficit with China in 2018 was US$419.2 billion.
It is a harsh reality that the saying "when America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold" is playing out across the globe. We all need respite from the onslaught, so I suggest a walk along one of Aotearoa's beautiful beaches quietly chanting "Trump who"?
Mary Hearn, Glendowie.
The Rugby World Cup is surely something that most Kiwis have been looking forward to for a long time. When I came back to NZ in 2011, I subscribed to Sky TV's sport package because, for one, I had been on a rugby fast for nearly 20 years. Secondly, I was not working and had lots of time to fill in.
I was very happy with the rugby coverage I was getting. I also am a great fan of F1 and I've hardly ever missed a race on the schedule since then.
Then some months ago I heard about Spark winning the bid to cover these two sporting events. Spark offered me all RWC games for $60 but I could not afford their monthly sport package.
My big complaint is that Sky still charges me the same for a lot less programming. I have made two complaints to the Commerce Commission, but without any positive response. Maybe if thousands of other Kiwis who have experienced this rip-off made complaints something may be done to force Sky TV to reduce their price now that they do not offer what they once did?
Colin Stitt, Katikati.
Editor's note: A letter published yesterday referred to a privacy breach at Creative New Zealand rather than Ministry for Culture and Heritage, which experienced the breach.
On Hong Kong
The silence of our politicians on the events in Hong Kong is deafening. Gary Hollis, Mellons Bay.
On measles
It is simply unacceptable, in a modern first-world society and with vaccinations available at no cost, so many parents are so negligent towards their children, and others. Hylton Le Grice, Remuera.
On Tamihere
Comparisons between John Tamihere and Donald Trump are very unfair. Tamihere only appears a fool whereas I'm pretty sure Trump is the real deal. D Adams, Mt Albert.
Give people an issue that grabs their attention and they will vote. There may now be one, can you put a cap on rates? Fiscally it is not possible, Phil Goff and others point out. But is it? John Riddell, Massey.
Correct me if I'm wrong but wouldn't he need a majority vote from his councillors to achieve his goal? Russell Browne, Clevedon.
On Amazon
John Hampson (NZ Herald, August 27) could do well to compare the satellite pictures with vegetation maps. Most of the fires are in savanna, containing very few trees. Brian Giles, Northcote
On guns
Money selfishly attracts money at the expense of the wellbeing and safety of the rest of the general public. Marie Kaire, Whangārei.
On building
Kudos to Westfield for a fast build in Newmarket and a huge brickbat to NZTA for being the world's slowest and most expensive road builders. How embarrassing is that? Richard Macdonald, Auckland Central.
It appears to be a tale of two islands for this weekend's weather.