Nicola Willis: Finance Minister on the possible additional funding for Pharmac to cover cancer medicines and other medications

Sign-off for a huge Government funding boost for Pharmac - which would allow for greater access to potential life-changing drugs for cancer patients - could come as soon as Monday.   Finance Minister Nicola Willis has confirmed she would announce a policy “very shortly”, but wouldn't confirm the exact timing.   Willis was speaking to Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking this morning, following reporting by The Post that an announcement of a $600 million boost for drug funding is imminent.   That money could allow National to keep its pre-election promise to fund life-saving cancer treatments, while also giving Pharmac more money for other drugs.   Willis told Hosking no announcement would be made today.   But she did not deny, when asked, that an announcement about drug funding would be made next week following Cabinet sign-off on Monday.   “We’ve been working very hard on this policy and we’re going to make an announcement very shortly,” she told Hosking.   She did not specify whether the $600m figure was accurate.   Willis’ comments come after the Government has been accused of breaking an election promise to fund 13 cancer-specific medicines, after this year’s Budget did not include funding for the policy.   Health Minister Shane Reti has promised the drugs will still be funded and delivered this year.   That apparently put Reti at odds with Pharmac Minister David Seymour who this week said he could not guarantee funding for the specific 13 drugs listed in the National Party’s election policy, partly because that would threaten Pharmac’s negotiating ability.   However, an additional $600m would represent an almost 40 per cent increase in Pharmac’s budget, which could give the drug-buying agency the freedom to buy the 13 cancer medicines along with other medications, maintaining its independence.   Health advocacy group Patient Voice Aotearoa described the pending policy as “excellent news, not only for terminally-ill cancer patients, but for many of the 330,000 New Zealanders who are waiting for one or more of the 90 medicines on Pharmac’s Options for Investment List”.   “Today’s news will put a significant dent in Pharmac’s waiting list of medicines that they want to fund,” chair Malcolm Mulholland said.   “This is worth celebrating. I hope that today’s news signals the end of New Zealand being the only country in the world with a waiting list of medicines.   “Having patients wait for years for a medicine not only leads to poorer health outcomes but is inhumane. It should be to our eternal shame that successive Governments underfunded Pharmac for over two decades which resulted in an ever-growing waiting list of medicines, and consequently, lives either being cut short or living in pain and misery.”   The policy, campaigned on by National ahead of the 2023 election, promised to fund 13 cancer treatments which were unavailable in New Zealand.   The list of drugs had been identified in a 2022 Cancer Control Agency report. Some experts and advocates, including those in that report, have questioned whether other or more modern drugs would be more effective.   The Budget this year didn’t include funding for the policy, prompting widespread criticism and forcing the Government to come up with a solution to honour the commitment. No timeline has been offered regarding an announcement on the future of the policy, except that it would be implemented by the end of the year.   Reti, a National MP, earlier this week admitted the Government had poorly communicated the policy’s future but he stood by his party’s policy, guaranteeing the same 13 drugs would be funded.   “We had made a commitment to these people and they saw themselves in this policy and so we’re going to deliver that policy.”  LISTEN ABOVE See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.