Pharmac is asking for feedback on proposed changes to the access criteria for some funded medicines used to treat type 2 diabetes.
Pharmac is proposing to change who can receive funded treatment with empagliflozin, dulaglutide and liraglutide. This includes widening access to these medicines by lowering the clinical threshold for heart disease risk and removing ethnicity-based eligibility criteria.
If approved, around 10,000 more people are expected to benefit from these treatments in the first year, increasing to around 23,000 after five years.
Pharmac’s Chief Medical Officer Dr David Hughes said the proposal will improve access to this medicine for around 10,000 New Zealanders.
“These medicines help lower blood sugar and, for people at high risk, reduce the likelihood of heart and kidney complications related to type 2 diabetes,” says Dr Hughes.
If approved, the changes would apply to new applications from 1 August 2026 onwards. People who are already receiving these medicines would continue to have access and would not notice any change.
Consultation is open until 5pm, Thursday 28 May 2026.
In 2025, Pharmac formalised its Access Criteria Policy. For every medicine considered for funding we now aim to define the target population by clinical condition and those most likely to benefit from the medicine.
Since then, we have reviewed the criteria for these medicines and have received further clinical advice about how these medicines work and who is most likely to benefit from them.
Clinical advice indicates that these medicines can provide greater health benefits for people with type 2 diabetes when used earlier, particularly for people at higher risk of heart or kidney problems.
Lowering the eligibility threshold from a 5-year cardiovascular risk of 15% to 10% means people may start treatment sooner – before their condition progresses to a higher level of risk. Treating people earlier can help reduce the likelihood of complications and support better long-term management of diabetes.
Liraglutide, dulaglutide, and empagliflozin are medicines used to treat type 2 diabetes.
They help the body produce insulin more effectively after meals, slow digestion, and reduce appetite, which helps lower blood sugar levels.
Empagliflozin also helps the kidneys remove excess glucose from the blood through urine, lowering blood sugar levels.
As well as helping manage blood glucose, these medicines have been shown to reduce the risk of heart and kidney complications in people with type 2 diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a long‑term condition where the body does not produce enough insulin or does not use insulin effectively. This leads to high levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood.
Over time, poorly controlled blood sugar can damage blood vessels and organs. This increases the risk of serious health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, vision loss, nerve damage, and the need for hospital treatment.
Managing type 2 diabetes usually involves lifestyle changes and, for many people, ongoing treatment with medicines to keep blood sugar within a healthy range.
