Notable is the timing of this report which well follows the review of Pharmac (and prior to that the flawed health system review..).

Till now Te Aho o Te Kahu hasn’t acknowledged the huge divide that exists in NZ, the result of systemic underfunding (and irresponsible interpretation of evidence that demonstrates the efficacy of immunotherapy and targeted therapies).

How can this be? One word = Pharmac.

Pharmac is an ‘instrument of government’ that prevents access to standard of care treatments. Pharmac do such a good job, NZ is at the bottom of the OECD for access, UNLESS you have alot of money to self fund.

The majority of patients that self fund their treatment suffer a further condition called financial toxicity.

Btw Some of the treatments for lung cancer aren’t mentioned in the report!