The Government has today announced it will establish a Cancer Control Agency and fund an extra $60 million for PHARMAC.
The Cancer Action Plan includes more medicines for more people, a stronger focus on prevention and screening and to develop a cancer-specific Quality Performance Indicators to improve equity of care, the Government says.
"Cancer touches just about every one of us at some stage in our lives. On average 66 people every day are diagnosed with cancer – and they deserve world-class care," Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.
"Modernising our approach to cancer care and improving survival rates is a long-term challenge, but there are a number of things we can do to make a difference straight away.
"PHARMAC has advised us this will mean it can fund a range of new medicines, including severla new cancer treatments.
"From next year, PHARMAC will also speed up its decision making by considering applications for funding at the same time as Medsafe assesses the safety of new medicines rather than waiting until that work is complete as it does currently. Work on options for early access to new cancer medicines is also progressing well.
The Cancer Control Agency will be established by December 1, 2019 and will be used to ensure consistent standards are upheld nationwide.
"Cancer care is woven into so much of the work that our public health service does, so while the Agency will have its own chief executive, it makes sense for it to be housed within the Ministry of Health," Health Minister David Clarke said.
Leading public health physician and cancer epidemiologist professor Diana Sarfati has been appointed interim national director of cancer control. She will lead work to improve the quality of treatment.
"An immediate priority will be establishing quality performance indicators for specific cancer types. This will mean we can measure progress towards consistent care across DHBs," Dr Clark said.
“We are also combining the four current regional cancer control networks into a National Network to help remove regional variations in care."
The Cancer Action Plan will be implemented immediately, but there is an opportunity for public and health professionals to provide feedback before it is finalised next year.
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