Source: PHARMAC
The Medicines Access Summit was a great opportunity to hear first-hand from patient advocates, suppliers, clinicians and others and make connections, says Pharmac Chief Executive, Natalie McMurtry.
“I was really pleased to be able to attend the summit in October, alongside our Board Chair Hon Paula Bennett as well as three other board members, our Senior Leadership Team and several other staff.”
Hosted by the Associate Minister of Health, Hon David Seymour, and aiming to address critical issues in medicine access the summit brought together a wide range of stakeholders including patient advocates, clinicians, health officials, suppliers, academics and politicians.
Some of the key themes were:
- How New Zealand can sustainably fund access to an increasing number of modern medicines in a publicly funded health system.
- How can Pharmac bring greater transparency and understanding around our processes and the decisions we make.
- How we could enhance Pharmac’s decision-making, prioritisation, funding policies, and processes in the face of rising demand for modern medicines.
- Current legislative reform underway (Pae Ora, Medicines amendment bill) and how we might modernise Pharmac’s statutory functions.
“I’d like to acknowledge the incredible amount of work Dr Malcolm Mulholland, Patient Voice Aotearoa and Medicines New Zealand put into organising this event. Rachel Smalley also did a wonderful job as MC,” McMurtry says. Mulholland and Smalley are members of Pharmac’s Consumer and Patient Working Group, as Chair and Deputy Chair.
“The constructive conversations held over the two days were invaluable. Many different voices at the summit all came together with a shared goal – improving access to medicines for all New Zealanders.”
