Cancer patients welcome Pharmac boost
Cancer specialists and patients with advanced melanoma have welcomed the news that three potentially life-saving skin cancer medicines are to be funded from 1 June.
The state drug-buying agency Pharmac announced on Friday it would fund more medicines for people with late stage skin cancer (stage 3B to stage 4 melanoma).
The decision includes widening access to pembrolizumab (branded as Keytruda), and funding dabrafenib, (Tafinlar) and trametinib (Mekinist), for the first time.
Pharmac director pharmaceuticals Geraldine MacGibbon said the move would help 285 people by preventing their cancer from spreading or coming back.
Melanoma NZ trustee and oncologist Dr Rosalie Stephens said the drugs were "both life-saving and life extending" and the decision was "welcome news".
"I think this news will come as a huge relief because New Zealanders with melanoma are well-informed. They know the impact that these medicines are having overseas and stakeholders have been asking for this decision for some time, so psychologically I think there will be a huge degree of relief.
"And also psychosocially, more broadly, as it will have a big impact on people's financial status because many New Zealanders have been paying out of pocket for these important medicines."
Aucklander Fin Bergin, who was diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in September 2024, agreed the funding would make a huge difference.
After two surgeries, the 28-year-old had been paying for the immunotherapy medicine combination of dabrafenib and trametinib, through a combination of personal savings, parental and family support, and donations through a Givealittle page.
"This [funded treatment] will... put me at ease, because the biggest stress since my diagnosis has been money related."
Stephens said it had been a "10-year progress" to get some of the medicines funded, and cancer specialists had felt "anxious about the gap, particularly when we compare ourselves to similar health systems, notably Australia and the UK".
But she added engagement with Pharmac over the past year had left her feeling "much more positive".
"We've had really constructive engagement, I would say. So yes, there's been the frustration. But we have really seen improvements and the transparency of the process, and we're pleased for that and we hope that continues."
Minister of Health Simeon Brown said National campaigned on boosting Pharmac funding to cover 13 additional cancer treatments and this week's announcement meant that, come 1 June, this would be achieved.
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