4. Question No. 4—HealthDr HAMISH CAMPBELL (National—Ilam) to the Minister of HealthQuestion No. 4—Health4. Dr HAMISH CAMPBELL (National—Ilam) to the Minister of Health: What recent announcements has the Government made about increasing access to medicines?Hon Dr SHANE RETI (Minister of Health): Yesterday the Government delivered on our commitment to fund more cancer treatments with an unprecedented and transformative investment in cancer and other treatments. This substantial injection will allow Pharmac to fund up to 26 cancer treatments alongside a further 28 other treatments. Increasing access to vital medicines is the right thing to do. I want to thank Associate Minister of Health the Hon David Seymour for his role in this announcement and also New Zealand First whose coalition agreement included increasing the Pharmac budget each year.Dr Hamish Campbell: What does this transformational announcement mean for New Zealanders?Hon Dr SHANE RETI: Up to 175000 New Zealanders will benefit from the overall expanded package of up to 54 medicines in the first year alone. The announcement means that not only will treatments for all the cancer types in the pre-election manifesto list be covered but also a number of other treatments including for blood cancers and other tumours. This major announcement adds to a number of other cancer announcements that we have already made. We have set a target of 90 percent of patients to receive cancer management within 31 days of the decision to treat. We have also increased breast screening eligibility to 74-year-olds; funded PET scanning accessibility for pathology like prostate cancer; expanded infusion services in Whanganui; invested in the new radiotherapy machine at Whangārei Hospital; and provided an extra $18 million a year to help people who need to travel for cancer treatments.Dr Hamish Campbell: What are the next steps to ensure New Zealanders can access these treatments?Hon Dr SHANE RETI: As a Government we have worked hard to ensure that this announcement was not just one of new funding but also one of delivery. We had to make sure that we got the implementation right. That is why further funding to deliver and administer these new treatments has been made available for both Pharmac and Health New Zealand further to our record investment of $16.68 billion into health as part of Budget 2024. New Zealanders should expect to see some of the newly funded cancer treatments become available from October-November this year with more being phased in over the next year. This announcement shows that we're a Government committed to delivering on health and specifically around cancer which we know impacts many New Zealanders and their families each year.Dr Hamish Campbell: What feedback has the Minister seen about this announcement?Hon Dr SHANE RETI: The feedback that we have received has been overwhelmingly positive. Patient Voice Aotearoa chair Malcolm Mulholland has called this announcement a game-changer" and "fantastic news for patients" saying that he is chuffed that 175000 Kiwis will get access to the medicines that they so desperately need. Patient advocate Melissa Vining has said that she is "just so happy that patients won't have to face that burden of mortgaging their homes or setting up a Givealittle [page] to receive treatment that is available in comparable countries." Rachael Hart chief executive of the Cancer Society of New Zealand says that "This is a momentous day for New Zealand." and other front-line oncologists have described this announcement as "truly a historic level of investment"."