The Finance Minister was told today to “have a bloody heart” after it was revealed in the Budget how much funding Pharmac will receive.
An extra $200 million has been allocated for Pharmac to go towards funding medicines, treatments and personal medical devices.
Health Minister Andrew Little says the boost to Pharmac’s budget over the next four years will help around 370,000 patients every year.
However, those who been advocating for more funding for Pharmac say the announcement today goes beyond disappointment and is just a drop in the ocean of how much funding Pharmac needs.
“I have already received phone calls from patients we’ve been advocating for and their families are they’re all just in a ball crying,” said Malcolm Mulholland from Patient Voice of Aotearoa.
Describing how he felt during the announcement today, Mulholland said he was feeling the “lowest of the low”.
“This isn’t the New Zealand I grew up in,” he told 1 NEWS.
Mulholland said many families have to make the decision to leave New Zealand to get the treatment they need, and that some New Zealanders won’t get the lifesaving drugs they need to survive.
“They know that their medicine will never be funding in this country.”
Andrew Little said the $200 million increase to Pharmac's funding over four years was one of the biggest increases it has "ever had".
It is in addition to the $160 million boost announced last year .
"Since we've been in Government, we've increased Pharmac's budget by almost 23 per cent to a record $1.1 billion a year."
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