Pharmac campaign moves up a gear

Peter Dunne

United Future is calling for changes to Pharmac after party leader Peter Dunne spent weeks pummelling the drug-buying agency.

The party wants to go into the election with a policy to restructure the agency, which spends around $550 million a year.

Restructuring Pharmac is becoming another hobby-horse for the centrist party, which supports the Government on confidence and supply.

Mr Dunne says Pharmac's drug-buying policies are leaving hundreds of thousands of Kiwis without the medicines they need.

In a statement he said: "New Zealanders only appear to qualify for modern Pharmac-subsidised drugs about the same time they see bright white lights and long tunnels to deceased loved ones."

His campaign has been helped by controversy over Pharmac's decision to stop paying for the asthma drug Ventolin, used for 30 years, in favour of the cheaper drug Salamol. Concerns about Salamol include the presence of a small amount of alcohol and cases of the inhalers blocking when needed.

The campaign has also been helped by problems with getting enough winter flu jabs.

But more generally, Mr Dunne is concerned about the agency's failure to provide modern drugs for a host of illnesses such as bone density disorders, HIV/Aids, the early stages of breast cancer, heart disease and Alzheimer's.

"What we are facing is a pharmaceutical crisis where the capability of people to get access to new medicines is going to increase all the time as technology improves.

"But the restrictive policies we have in place are going to limit the opportunities for New Zealanders."

It had become too focused on driving costs down and was also starting to make clinical decisions on behalf of patients.

Mr Dunne said the agency needed restructuring and refocusing, as well as more funding. He wanted a more flexible approach to drug-buying.

But a spokesman for Health Minister Annette King rejected claims Pharmac was in crisis.

He said that in the US - where there is no equivalent of Pharmac - many people could not even afford to buy medicines they needed.

Pharmac benefited the country through maintaining a national schedule of subsidised medicines, which meant that regardless of location, patients got the same access to drugs. The system also meant the Government could get better prices, which in turn meant more drugs could be bought.

The volume of medicines dispensed each year was rising by about 5 per cent, but Pharmac was still widening access to new medicines, he said. Last year, 15 new medicines were funded and access to nine others was widened.

Mr Dunne said various health groups had backed his calls for change. Alzheimer's New Zealand yesterday supported him.

Spokeswoman Florence Leota said Annette King must start to put the needs of people ahead of costs, as it was having a serious impact on the quality of healthcare New Zealanders were getting.

United's hobby horses

* Pharmac's role as the Government's drug-buyer.
* Removing GST from rates.
* Income-splitting for couples to gain tax benefits.
* Moral conservatism and opposing "pink" legislation such as Civil Unions law.
* Replacing Waitangi Day with a new national day.
* More support for outdoor recreation and high-performance sport.
* Tough on crime.