A cancer patient is pleading with the Government to fund treatment for everyone exposed to asbestos.

A young woman with a body riddled with fast growing tumours, who was left in a three-week limbo by Pharmac, has finally got funding for the drug she needs.

For Olivia Fryer, three weeks could be everything but that's how long she's been waiting to find out whether a drug she needs to fight cancer will be funded by Pharmac.

The mother of the first person to get approval to use medicinal cannabis in New Zealand has made an emotional plea to Parliament to make it easier for others to get access to the drug legally.

Otago University scientists have taken a first step towards what could eventually be a Keytruda-type drug to fight cervical cancer. They

Pharmac happy to consider application to fund erection drugs for prostate cancer patients.

NZ Cancer Society medical director Dr Christopher Jackson discusses urgent worries around New Zealand's systems for reviewing and funding ground-breaking new cancer drugs.

Leisa Renwick has told a Parliamentary committee that her fight to get Keytruda funded shows the need for Pharmac to be reformed so desperate patients can access new drugs faster.

After spending $100,000 on drug Keytruda, Deanna Trevarthen's tumours are shrinking and she is preparing for her next fight - to change ACC legislation.

It sounds hollow, hypocritical and heartless every time National says that decisions on funding must be left to Pharmac, writes Audrey Young.

WATCH: Auckland student owes his life to the generosity of strangers, friends and family who raise money for life-saving melanoma drugs.

Patients who have had miraculous results with melanoma drugs will join dying patients and their families to petition Govt to boost funding for Pharmac.

New Zealand is about to have the honour of hosting the formal signing of the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement by trade ministers from 12 nations of the Pacific rim.

In New Zealand we have a love/hate relationship with Pharmac, the agency that decides which drugs our Government will pay for.

Two petitions are circulating for the funding of the new immunotherapy drug against melanoma, Keytruda.

Kiwis are waiting for more than 35 cost-effective medicines recommended by a Pharmac advisory committee, a lobby group for the pharmaceutical industry says.

Pharmac is possibly the most publicly respected body in this country.

A campaign for state funding of a costly new drug for melanoma has been derailed by a "low priority" ranking at Pharmac.

Most people will be more than aware that, like all public relations campaigns, this one will not reveal the full picture.

It may be difficult at first for observers to grasp the magnitude of what has happened with the trade liberalisation deal just reached in the TPP.

FRAN O'SULLIVAN: Geneva has the WTO. Brussels hosts the European Union. Will the Trans-Pacific Partnership put Auckland on the map?

The TPP could be improved after a few years, Trade Minister Tim Groser has said, acknowledging NZ lost against powerful forces that limited dairy sector rewards.

New Zealand and 11 other countries strike Pacific trade pact - a deal that will affect 40 per cent of world's economy.

What deals have other countries by signing up to the TPP deal?

OPINION: Trade Minister conceded a few nasty points but his brinksmanship in TPP negotiations allows him to stare down critics, writes Fran O'Sullivan.

An overwhelming number of New Zealanders support the legalisation of cannabis for medicinal use, the latest Herald-DigiPoll survey shows.

"Making normal sexuality into a medical problem is an easy PR task with enduring serious consequences for the health of NZ women."

Prime Minister John Key says signing up to the Trans Pacific Partnership could stop the Government from banning house sales to non-residents, but alternative measures including a stamp duty or land tax could still be introduced.

Leading American trade economist Professor Peter Petri is optimistic that the Trans Pacific Partnership will turn out to be less damaging to Pharmac than people fear.

New Zealand is heading towards a two-tier health system, and it could get a whole lot worse, writes George Laking.