In a few weeks, I will be making an oral submission on the need for Pharmac to be reviewed. Does Pharmac already do a good job? I don’t know, and I am obviously biased as I am currently paying $6,000 every four weeks for drugs that in other countries are funded. What does a review even mean? Personally if it becomes a general pat-on-the-back-fest then little will have been gained. But if it is a well considered review of how we can improve the survival rate of stage four cancer then it can only benefit the country, too many women are dying of breast cancer – with a median life expectancy of only 16 months.
Below is the current draft of my oral submission. It is meant to be 5-7 minutes long and is slightly longer than that at present so any thoughts welcome! At this stage I’m relying on nerves making me speak faster than in practice lol.
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