National would establish a National Cancer Agency - but Government says new anti-cancer measures are already being finalised

July 28, 2019

Mr Bridges says his government would give an extra $50m per year towards funding anti-cancer drugs.

National Party Leader Simon Bridges says a National-led government would establish a new National Cancer Agency and ring-fence a further $200m for Pharmac to spend on anti-cancer drugs.

Mr Bridges also took a swipe at the Government, saying they have under-spent on Pharmac drug funding and not kept pace with inflation - despite the agency receiving a funding boost of more than 13 per cent last year.

Mr Bridges, attending the second day of the annual National Party Conference today, said the proposed new agency would be independent of the Ministry of Health and DHBs.

"New Zealanders shouldn't have to pack up their lives and go to other countries for cancer treatment," he said.

"New Zealanders shouldn't have to mortgage their houses, set up a Givealittle page or take out massive loans to be able to afford medicines which are funded in other countries.

"Not a week goes by where I don't hear from a New Zealander who is suffering from cancer but the medicines they need aren't funded in New Zealand but are in other countries."

Mr Bridges said a National Cancer Agency would focus on "greater accountability and consistency of access across New Zealand".

"The agency will be involved in prevention, screening and treatment," he said.

"New Zealand is a world leader in research and innovation, so the centre will also facilitate research so that in the future we can prevent cancer and treat it more effectively."

The Ministry of Health in fact already operates a similar department - the National Cancer Programme established in 2008 - which aims to "put equity first" and "ensure every New Zealander has the same access to high quality care".

The Ministry programme's aim is to lead "a systematic and coordinated approach to cancer control through a national cancer programme work plan involving district health boards, regional cancer networks, and non-governmental organisations".

Mr Bridges said in his speech to National Party members that "the current Government hasn't even invested enough to keep up with population growth or inflation."

He criticised the fact that Pharmac's Combined Pharmaceutical Budget (CPB) only increased by about 1 per cent this year - going from $985m in 2018/19 to $995m in 2019/20.

The 2019 inflation rate has ranged between 1.5 and 1.9 per cent, and population grew by about 1 per cent per year.

"Despite claiming to be a caring and compassionate Government, they only put an extra 1 per cent into PHARMAC for life-saving drugs ... that doesn't even cover inflation," he said.

However, the Labour-led Government did increase Pharmac's budget by $114.2m the year before - taking the total CPB from $870.8m in 2017/18 to $985m in 2018/19.

That was an increase of more than 13 per cent, which is well ahead of inflation and population growth, on average, across the two years.

In the 2018 Budget, Finance Minister Grant Robertson also announced Pharmac would take control of DHBs' drug buying, effective July 1 2018, which would make considerable savings due to increased buying power.

That change was expected to lead to savings of about $194.7m over four years.

Mr Bridges promised that his proposed changes would be implemented within his party's first 100 days of government, if they are elected, and it would cost $10m from the health budget per year to run.

A similar fund aimed at buying cancer drugs was established in the United Kingdom in 2011 - the Cancer Drugs Fund - but that fund was reformed in 2015 after being criticised for spending taxpayer money on new, expensive and untested drugs.

'NATIONAL HAD NINE YEARS TO FIX CANCER CARE BUT DIDN'T'

Health Minister David Clark released a statement following Mr Bridge's announcement, in which he said the Government is already taking action on fighting cancer.

"We all want to see action on cancer, and that’s what the Government is getting on and doing," Mr Clark said.

"The Government promised action on cancer care and we will be making significant announcements in the coming weeks that will make a real difference to cancer sufferers now.

"National had nine years to fix cancer care but didn't.

"Their legacy was health cuts, underfunding, workforce shortages and services under increasing pressure.

"Only four years ago they wound up Cancer Care NZ, now they say they want a National Cancer Agency.

"We inherited big gaps in health funding that we are getting on with fixing.

"This year's Budget included an extra $2.8 billion in operational funding for DHBs and $1.7 billion for capital investments in our hospital facilities to get things back up to speed.

"New Zealand already spends $220 million a year on cancer drugs ... it is not clear how National’s cancer fund will relate to that existing spend – will it be maintained?

"National also needs to say how it will pay for its Cancer Drugs Fund and whether funding for other drugs or other services will be cut to pay for it.

"National’s announcement won’t speed up early access to new medicines – something many people living with cancer have been calling for, and something the Government is looking at actively.

"The fact is National can't be trusted with health," Mr Clark said.

"We inherited a broken and underfunded system and are making record investments to fix National's nine year of neglect.

"I am currently finalising the Interim Cancer Action Plan. It is comprehensive and deals with all aspects of cancer care, not just drugs."

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