Lack of funding for cancer medicines forcing Whanganui patients to move to Australia

Malcolm Mulholland wants more cancer drugs to be funded by Pharmac.

A lack of funding for cancer medicines is forcing patients to move to Australia for treatment, patient advocate Malcolm Mulholland says.

The My Life Matters national roadshow visited Whanganui on September 5 to raise awareness about underfunded cancer medicines.

Patient Voice Aotearoa chairman Mulholland said the five most prevalent cancers in Whanganui by registration were prostate, breast, melanoma, colorectal and lung.

“Then if we look at it by mortality, number one is lung cancer.”

Mulholland said Australia funded 11 more medicines than New Zealand for lung cancer.

The next-highest mortality rates from cancer types were breast and then prostate.

There were 18 more funded medicines for breast cancer in Australia, and four additional medicines for prostate cancer.

“There are a high number of drugs that Australia funds that we don’t, and that’s why patients, once diagnosed with stage four cancer, look to shift to Australia so that they can access those medicines that aren’t funded here.”

Mulholland said Pharmac was underfunded in New Zealand and had been for a number of years.

“In order to get close to what the per capita spend is with Australia with their medicines, we would most likely have to double or triple Pharmac’s current budget of $1.3 billion.”

He would also like to see changes in how Pharmac carried out its funding process.

“To fund a medicine it takes on average eight years, which is far too long, and there are also problems around how Pharmac assesses the drugs they want to fund,” Mulholland said.

“We’re the only country in the world that has a wish list from their drug procurement agency that they would like to fund, and that’s just not okay.”

Mulholland said the last thing patients wanted to do when diagnosed with stage four cancer was to move their lives to Australia.

“Most people want to spend time with their loved ones and create memories for those who they’re leaving behind into the future, and the last thing they want to be doing is thinking of uplifting their family and going away from their social networks and supports.”

He said he began advocating for more cancer medicines to be funded by Pharmac in 2018, during his wife’s battle with cancer.

“My late wife Wiki was diagnosed with stage four breast cancer and it was a very public fight to get a drug funded for her.”

He said in Wiki Mulholland’s job at the Department of Internal Affairs, she often worked closely with the communities of Whanganui.

Eva de Jong is a reporter for the Whanganui Chronicle covering health stories and general news. She began as a reporter in 2023.