A cancer treatment campaigner is calling for the Government to double Pharmac's funding as his wife battles breast cancer.
Malcolm Mulholland's wife Wiki has stage four breast cancer and is unable to access the drug Ibrance, which is not currently being funded by Pharmac in New Zealand.
The drug costs $6000 per month to get privately, while in Australia the drug is funded by the Government and costs $40 per month.
"We know that Australia funds 57 more cancer drugs than what New Zealand patients are receiving here," Mr Mulholland told TVNZ1's Breakfast this morning.
"But that's not really the full story in terms of Palbociclib (Ibrance) … an inhibitor which, on average, prolongs life by two years.
They did however announce an upgrade for cancer fighting technology in the regions.
"What we've seen in Australia is that they fund two types of that drug – not just one – and in the UK, it's all three types of drugs."
Mr Mulholland went on to say: "In New Zealand, we have over 120 drugs on the Pharmac waiting list, and we have no idea when they're going to be funded. One of those drugs is a drug that Wiki needs, and that's been on the waiting list now for 14 years."
Yesterday new cancer treatment services were announced by the Government for Hawke's Bay, Taranaki and Northland.
Many more cancer sufferers will have local access to radiation treatment without having to travel to bigger centres. Government funding is also seeing the replacement of radiation machines in the main centres.
Mr Mulholland is calling for an inquiry into Pharmac "so we can get the model right moving forward."
"We know that, in New Zealand, we are extremely slow. There is a total lack of transparency in relation to Pharmac.
"People don't know if a drug's going to be funded and when, and one half of that problem, I suppose, is the lack of funding that Pharmac receives."
On Friday, the Health Select Committee announced it would not recommend an inquiry into Pharmac.
Pharmac currently receives just under $1 billion in funding, which Mr Mulholland hopes to see doubled to $2 billion, with a plan to extend it to $3 billion - in line with OECD standards.
The OECD average spend for medicine is 15 per cent of the health budget, while in New Zealand, the figure is under 5 per cent, he said.
Mr Mulholland said the New Zealand Government needs to stop politicising the issue and "get some broad level of support between National and Labour to say we need to fix this for the generations to come".
"If we don't get it right right now, we're going to find New Zealand slipping further and further back.
"We've already called this a third-world type scenario, and my fear is that will continue unless the two parties have a meeting of the minds and actually come together on this issue."
He said the current "rationing model" isn't working.
"You see it right across the board, not only in relation to drugs, but also with DHB blowouts and we know that there are problems with that particular model, so I think you've got to ask yourself: 'what is the priority for Governemnt? Is it the health of New Zealanders, or is it building roads, or is it something else?'"
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