Blue Jackie: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
Blue Jackie: Financial Review Debate — In Committee 
[Volume:630;Page:2443] 
Dr JACKIE BLUE (National) 
: 
 It is the responsibility of Governments to strive to provide the best health care for their citizens. Sadly I say that this Labour Government is failing its citizens. I add too how disappointed and stunned I am at the poor performance of the Minister Pete Hodgson. But my sadness is balanced by the fact that I am part of a wonderful health team: the marvellous Hon Tony Ryall—what a great leader—Dr Jonathan Coleman and Jo Goodhew. What a great team I am with! 
The House has heard from some of my colleagues already and will hear from Jo Goodhew about the deficiencies in the health system. But the real scandal is in pharmaceuticals and in the 5½ out of 10 performance of Pharmac. That is really bad. Pharmaceuticals and prescription medicines play a vital role in the prevention amelioration and treatment of disease and disability and are an essential tool for improving health outcomes for New Zealanders. With Vote Health now at almost a massive $10 billion one would expect that the spend on pharmaceuticals would have increased proportionately over the last 3 to 4 years. My colleagues will be aghast—absolutely shocked—when I say that that has not been the case. 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: No! What’s happened? 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: I will tell the member. Rather than the per capita pharmaceutical spend increasing it has flatlined. I ask my colleagues to look at the graph I am holding up. Spending has flatlined. The graph is like an ECG of a cardiac arrest; spending is as dead as a dodo after 1 2 3 4 years—dreadful. Even Pharmac admitted during a recent Health Committee hearing that population funding for pharmaceuticals has not kept pace with inflation. At the same committee hearing Pharmac said that New Zealanders had access to more drugs than Australians. That claim was repeated—parroted—by Mr Hodgson in the House but it did not make sense to me because as members have just seen from the flatlining graph spending has— 
Hon Maurice Williamson 
: Show it again. 
Dr JACKIE BLUE 
: I will show the member. Spending has flatlined. It is as dead as a dodo—nothing has happened there over the last 4 years. 
So what was Pharmac’s claim all about? It took the research medicines industry to expose the truth. It found that Pharmac’s data contained numerous omissions and errors and astonishingly included items that were not medicines. My colleagues will be interested to know that Pharmac counted items such as condoms and bandages as medicines. But that outrageous lie was exposed. 
Australians have more access to medicines. For example they have extra medicines for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. They have five new medicines to treat HIV four new biological medicines five new cancer treatments and new medicines for heart failure treatment. Organ transplant recipients have new medicines and new medicines are available for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. New Zealanders are being short-changed not just by the number of medicines available but also by the fact that what is available is more restricted. 
But there is more. Proud of its lack of spending over the years on pharmaceuticals Pharmac went even further and underspent its budget by $25 million in the financial year ending 2002 by $3 million in 2003 and by $8 million in 2004. Clearly embarrassed by its legacy of underspending it underspent by only half a million dollars in the year ending 2005. Pharmac has its priorities all wrong. Access to medicines will improve the health of New Zealanders. Pharmac’s miserly attitude does a huge disservice to all New Zealanders. 
Before I conclude I want to ask the Minister of Health two questions and I hope he takes a call and answers them. The first concerns Herceptin funding. Will the Minister ensure that district health boards have enough money in their cancer budgets to agree to fund Herceptin when they are asked to do so? The second question concerns women who have to start Herceptin now and cannot wait until later in the year when it might be approved and who are prepared to look at paying for the drug—they are struggling raising mortgages and fund-raising; $70000 is a lot of money but some are getting there. Will the Minister allow them to have the drug administered in a public hospital which will save them up to almost $50000? The basic cost of Herceptin is $70000 and for women to have the drug administered and to be monitored in a private hospital can cost anything up to $30000 or $40000.