- Hon David Seymour
Associate Health Minister David Seymour is pleased to accept the Valuing Life Medicines Access Summit White Paper delivered by Patient Voice Aotearoa (PVA).
PVA gives patients a unified voice to help inform better health policy and improve access to healthcare, while fiercely advocating for their rights.
"We welcome the White Paper as a call to action to continue improving access to medicines for Kiwis," says Mr Seymour.
"The White Paper follows the Medicines Summit hosted by Mr Seymour in April 2024 and co-facilitated by PVA and Medicines New Zealand. The paper contains 10 suggestions for the development of a patient-centric medicines strategy, which Kiwis deserve.
"The acceptance of the White Paper signifies this Government's commitment to continue to hear from patients up and down New Zealand.
"For many New Zealanders, funding for pharmaceuticals is life or death, or the difference between a life of pain and suffering or living freely.
"To reflect this, this Government listened, allocating Pharmac's largest ever budget of $6.294 billion over four years, so that it can get on and do its job - negotiating the best deals for medicine for New Zealanders.
"It was a priority for us to find the additional $1.8 billion to fix the fiscal cliff left by the previous government, and we provided a $604 million uplift to Pharmac to ensure more Kiwis can access life-changing medicines.
"Pharmac has a big job ahead. In a trying fiscal environment, we need to prioritise funding and resources and ensure Pharmac remains focused on the basic function of procuring medicine for people who need it, to the best of its abilities.
"In my letter of expectations, I made it clear that I want Pharmac to work in partnership with consumers, clinicians, suppliers and the health sector to improve health outcomes for New Zealanders. My letter also makes clear the need for Pharmac to focus on delivering improved health outcomes underpinned by robust data and evidence.
"While considerable progress has been made, more work is needed to address the questions raised by the summit on current policy settings and how to adapt to the evolving landscape of medicines. I look forward to continued engagement to give a voice to patients."
Note to editors: The PVA White Paper can be found here.
