Rachel Hart: Cancer Society CEO on the uncertainty in the timeline surrounding cancer drug funding

The Cancer Society says yesterday was a momentous day but there's still a bit of uncertainty around Pharmac's funding boost.  

The Government's committed $604 million, taken in advance from next year's Budget.  

It will cover the funding for 54 new medicines, including 26 cancer treatments.  

Cancer Society chief executive Rachael Hart told Mike Hosking that it's been an incredibly stressful time so the news brings some relief, but the uncertainty doesn't end.  

She says cancer patients still don't know when the drugs will be funded, and when you're shelling out thousands of dollars a month, every month matters. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So it has gone from thirteen cancer drugs that weren't
delivered to twenty six that will be at a cost
of six hundred million dollars in total, cancer and beyond
fifty six new medicines will be funded. This is the
big announcement from the government yesterday. First drugs ready by
October November, with the rest set to be rolled out
over the next twelve months. Cancer Society Chief executive Rachel
Hart is whether it's Rachel, very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Good morning mate.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
Was it a game changer yesterday?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Oh? Absolutely, it was a momentous day. I mean it's
it's such a big part of the medicines that we've
been waiting on. Where really relieved for those families that
have been waiting on those thirteen thirteen cancer medicines and
have thirteen more chucked in? Is great?

Speaker 1 (00:41):
Has it been a roller coaster? I mean what they
promised and what they delivered, which up until yesterday was nothing.
That level of disappointment then counteracted by the joy of
what you got. Does it sort of balance it out?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
I think I think there's been a lot of uncertainty. Obviously,
my concern is for the those people with cancer who
have been waiting on this announcement. It's been a hugely
stressful time for them. Of course, the uncertainty doesn't end.
Although they know now that these drugs will be funded,
they don't know when. And when you're shelling out thousands
and thousands of dollars a month, every month matters.

Speaker 1 (01:18):
What struck me yesterday is the one hundred and seventy
five thousand claim the number of people that will be helped.
I mean, that's a tremendous number of people who are
reliant on farmak.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Absolutely and just to remember, this is still only our
first step. We have one hundred and forty treatments that
are on the options for investment lists, so treatments that
FARMAC has deemed as being cost effective and health effective.
And yet they're still still like, so this isn't this

(01:50):
isn't even halfway down that list.

Speaker 1 (01:53):
When you say that, Seymour made I thought some interesting comments,
and that is that you'll never get to the bottom
of the list. No country in the world will get
to the bottom of the list. Based on the fact
that that we are in some sort of revolution at
the moment of farmac, not farmac but big farmer producing
things that you know, we're just we're just on the
precipice of something, you know, truly exciting and you can't
afford it. Is that fair or not?

Speaker 2 (02:14):
I think I think every country is grappling with the
new technologies that are coming through. However, we are the
only country in the world that has a capped budget
on medicines. So for every other OECD country wants a
medicine reaches a particular threshold, and those are different in
different places, but it gets funded. So New Zealand is

(02:35):
quite unique in being slow to adopt technologies that we're not.
We don't even have standard of care as it would
be expected in most other OECD countries, so we still.

Speaker 1 (02:47):
Have a long way to go, which brings us to
the model argument, which I suppose National would argue, this
is why we went with thirteen in the first place,
to try and get around farmac. Is farmac as a
model fit for purpose? And are we happy with it? Broadly?
Has this taughtus some sort of lesson?

Speaker 2 (03:03):
I think I think this is this is a lesson. This,
This whole you know, roller coaster that we've been on
shows us that FARMAC isn't working the way we need
we need changes to the model. We need it to
be more efficient, we need it to be more transparent,
and we need a budget allocation that reflects the opportunities
that are available to us.

Speaker 1 (03:22):
You can't argue with what the government's done so far
because it's one point six one point seven whatever they announced,
you know, pre budget plus this. I mean you're in
exist of two billion dollars in a country that has
no money. I mean it's not bad yet.

Speaker 2 (03:35):
Oh look, we're really excited about yesterday's announcement and it
really is a game changer.

Speaker 1 (03:41):
Good stuff, Rachel, good to talk to you. Appreciate it
very much. Rachel Hard, Cancer Society, Chief Executive.

Speaker 2 (03:46):
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Speaker 1 (03:50):
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