Nicola Coom: Cancer Society CEO on the new Pharmac funded drugs becoming available

Many Kiwis will be feeling relief today as new Pharmac funded drugs officially become available.  

Continuous Glucose Monitors are now being funded alongside widened access to insulin pumps and consumables. 

Cancer drug Keytruda is also now more accessible. 

Cancer Society Chief Executive Nicola Coom told Heather du Plessis Allan that Keytruda will make a massive difference for those who've re-mortgaged their homes and travelled overseas for treatment.   

She said that its absolutely life changing.  

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Now it could be a life changing day for thousands
across the country today because a range of sort after
medicines are going to be available from FARMAC, including of
course Key Truder and joining us now as the Cancer
Society CEO Nicola.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
Kume Nikolain, Good morning morning Heather.

Speaker 1 (00:13):
Yeah, you've been counting down to today.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
Oh, absolutely today is significant for us on many families
across our country and well overdo.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Are there people who have literally been waiting to get
the drug key true to the one that everybody wants
to get their hands on. Are there people who've literally
been waiting and will today be able to get it
and weren't able to yesterday?

Speaker 2 (00:34):
Absolutely they've done I only been waiting, but some of
them have also been self funding, mortgaging their homes, traveling
outside of our country. So today is life changing and
more importantly life extending for these families. This will give
these families more time.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
Of all the things that this government has done, I
would put boosting farmac's budget right up there as one
of the most important.

Speaker 2 (01:00):
What do you think, couldn't agree with you more? Couldn't
agree with you more? And look fun that has come
under a lot of criticism over the last few years,
and I've been one of those people. But it is
very difficult to invest in cancer drookes when you don't
have when you don't have the funding. So this is
a significant investment of what I understand, it's it's the

(01:20):
largest of its kind ever in New Zealand. So yeah,
absolutely life changing.

Speaker 1 (01:25):
Really very very happy for you guys. I thank you
very much, Nicholas. That's Nicola Kuba of the Cancer Society.
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