Comparing Systems: Pharmac New Zealand
Our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) gives Australians access to more than 5,200 medicines.
The need to ensure a strong future for the PBS is reinforced when we look at the New Zealand system, which has been criticised for failing to deliver equitable and timely access to medicines.
Pharmac is the New Zealand Government agency responsible for determining which medicines and medical devices are publicly funded. Pharmac negotiates with pharmaceutical companies and decides which medicines are subsidised for patients in the community and in hospitals.
Pharmac uses a tender system where pharmaceutical companies submit proposals to be a single or principle supplier of medicines to the New Zealand market at the lowest possible price. This tender system has faced criticism for prioritising cost-savings, rather than making sure new and more effective medicines are available for New Zealanders.
Single supply tenders are criticized for eliminating patient and doctor choice and for exacerbating medicines supply shortages.
Critics argue this approach means that New Zealanders don’t have access to the latest medicines that could improve quality of life and in some cases, save lives.
Between 2012-2021, of the 460 new medicines made available to patients internationally, only 7% were funded in New Zealand. This means that patients diagnosed with diseases in other countries can access innovative medicines that New Zealanders miss out on because of Government agency decision making.
Additionally, New Zealand lags other countries when it comes to how long it takes for a medicine to be funded and made available to patients after it has been approved for use by patients.
It takes an average of 583 days from registration to reimbursement of new medicines in New Zealand, which is more than five times longer than it takes in Japan and more than three times the time it takes in the United States. This means patients are left waiting for years, while patients in other countries have access to life changing medicines.
The New Zealand medicines system highlights the strength of the Australian PBS, and the need to protect our crucial public health program for the future.