Brash Don: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Brash Don: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:624;Page:19149] 
2.  
Dr DON BRASH (Leader of the Opposition) 
 to the  
Prime Minister 
: Does she have confidence in her Minister of Health; if so why? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK (Prime Minister) 
: 
 Yes because she is a hard-working and conscientious Minister. 
Dr Don Brash 
: Will she give an assurance to the New Zealand public that their health will not be put at risk as a result of the non-availability of sufficient doses of the fully effective flu vaccine; if not why not? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: The company contracted to supply the vaccine has admitted full responsibility for one of the three strains being less potent than it should be. Trials are going on in Australia now to see whether the level of potency will be sufficient but in the meantime the health authorities are behaving responsibly in looking for a way forward. 
Dr Don Brash 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I asked the Prime Minister to give an assurance to the New Zealand public that their health would not be put at risk. Do I take it from her answer that she is not willing to give that assurance? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Is that a supplementary question? 
Dr Don Brash 
: I asked a question and the Prime Minister failed to answer it. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: The Prime Minister addressed what was relevant in the question. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Does the Prime Minister’s answer mean that she has confidence in the way in which the Minister of Health and Pharmac have handled the Sanofi Pasteur affair and does it also mean that she has confidence in Pharmac’s ongoing ability to manage issues relating to access to new and different medicines for New Zealanders? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I have complete confidence in the way the New Zealand health authorities have handled the matter. Since the vaccination programme began as a subsidised one in New Zealand in 1997 it has always been the practice to have one sole contractor. This time the contractor has produced a vaccine that does not meet the World Health Organization level of efficacy although tests are going on in Australia to see whether it will be potent enough. 
Peter Brown 
: Noting the Prime Minister’s answer to the principal question will she give the House an assurance that the problems facing rest homes in this country at the moment whereby staff want a 3 percent increase will be passed on and that the Minister of Health will address the problems facing care nurses who are very very underpaid? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: That is broadly within the ambit of the question and I will ask the right honourable Prime Minister to address it. 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: The issues with regard to the funding of elder care are actually the responsibility of the Associate Minister of Health the Hon Pete Hodgson. As the member knows more money was put into the area of elder care in December so that there could be a better settlement reached with rest home workers. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Does she support the Minister of Health’s view that it is perfectly acceptable to fund core health services with fast-food advertising campaigns such as Ronald McDonald and is she concerned that corporations like McDonald’s are insinuating themselves into our public health and education systems; if not why not? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I am aware that the Ronald McDonald House Charities has come forward to subsidise something to do with dental care in a part of New Zealand. The trust is known for putting a lot of money into supporting families and children. 
Hon Peter Dunne 
: Does the Prime Minister’s answer to my original question mean that she and the Minister are satisfied that the procedures Pharmac applies when seeking tenders of this type are robust; and if it does mean that can she give the House an assurance that the decisions reached by Pharmac with regard to this particular contract were driven more by the public interest of good health than by saving dollars? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I can absolutely assure the member that the consideration was not about saving dollars. It is a question of a small market and of the need to get a reliable source of supply for the vaccine. I can further say that this particular company has 40 percent of the world share of the vaccine market. It is a reputable company but in this case it has let down all of its Southern Hemisphere clients by failing to have the strain for one kind of flu as potent as it should have been. 
Dr Don Brash 
: When did the Prime Minister and her Minister of Health first learn that the flu vaccine purchased for New Zealand would not be fully effective; and why did Government officials originally give the impression that the vaccine was only delayed when in fact it was actually ineffective against one of the likely flu strains? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: The Minister was advised the same day as the New Zealand health authorities were advised by Medsafe and Pharmac of the issues. 
Opposition Member 
: What day? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: That happened to be on 28 February—and then I am sure the National Party’s statements came considerably after everyone in the parliamentary complex was notified. 
Heather Roy 
: Can the Prime Minister deny that the Minister of Health will oversee a record surge in health spending of over $1 billion in the next financial year—around double the historical yearly increase—and what concerns if any does she have about hospital productivity in light of this huge increase? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: I can certainly confirm that the health area has had huge increases in funding under a Labour Government. One of the issues I am interested in is the level of productivity we get for that. 
Sue Kedgley 
: Does the Prime Minister believe that it is appropriate for the Minister of Health to help launch next week a Ronald McDonald House Charities advertising campaign—a trust that is the offshoot of a company whose products can cause harm to children’s health and teeth; and is it now Government policy for Ministers to promote the advertising campaigns of corporations like McDonald’s; if so why? 
Rt Hon HELEN CLARK 
: The Minister of Health is in no way promoting a corporate advertising campaign.