19/02/2025
Last week, at the New Zealand Economics Forum at the University of Waikato, I joined a panel to discuss 'Pharmac and Medicines: Balancing Politics and Public Health'.
For a number of years, I've documented the complexities and failures of the Pharmac model through The Medicine Gap, highlighting the impact on the lives of New Zealanders, our health system, and the wider economy.
This time, it was different. I was given an opportunity to talk about how we might reform the model. The link to the 60minute conversation is in the comments, but here's an Executive Summary.
* Invest more in medicines. Yes, we've significantly increased the budget, but we've underinvested in medicines and medical technologies for over 12 years. More than 100 medicines offering significant clinical benefit sit on Pharmac's waiting list today - most have been there for many years.
* Modernise Pharmac's procurement processes. Consider the value medicines bring to patients, the health system, and society as a whole instead of viewing medicines as a sunk cost. If we do this, some medicines will align with the Finance Minister's Social Investment policy.
* Implement an empowered and transformational SLT to lead Pharmac (as opposed to manage it) and create a patient-centric agency which sits inside the health system, and is laser-focused on reform, and improving health outcomes.
I was buoyed to hear Sir Brian Roche's speech at the Forum and the emphasis he placed on improving leadership capability within the Public Service, and procurement processes.
Finally, our government is rightly focused on improving productivity - but if you want to improve productivity, you must also invest in the health of the humanity which is driving it. Medicines, and the health of our workforce, is fundamental to New Zealand's success.
