There has been a great deal of discussion and controversy about funding the drug Herceptin for women suffering from breast cancer. It is a very expensive drug made by the Roche company. Pharmac is the organisation which buys drugs and provides them free or at low cost for New Zealanders. It is an independent organisation; the government cannot tell it what to do.

Pharmac funds Herceptin for 9 weeks while 33 other countries fund it for 12 months. It would cost Pharmac around $15 million a year to fund this drug for 12 months for the women who need it. District Health Boards said this was the right decision as this money is needed for other drugs. Pharmac said their decision is not about the cost although they also say it is their duty to make sure their money is well spent. They say too that Herceptin is not a wonder drug. There can also be side effects by causing heart problems. Pharmac has looked at the science and they say that right now, there is not enough evidence to show that 12 months of Herceptin has better results than 9 weeks. Even Roche, the makers of this drug, say that they don’t really know how long it should be used for.

Not all women with breast cancer need this drug. It is only one kind of breast cancer, affecting around 350 women. Some of these women are trying to raise money to pay for private treatment, which could cost them between $50,000 and $90,000, depending on where they live. Auckland is the most expensive.

A group calling themselves the ‘Herceptin Heroines’ sent in 300 submissions to Pharmac about the need for 12 months funding. Pharmac also talked to a lot of these women. The chairman of Pharmac said that it was a very hard decision to fund only 9 weeks and they all felt sympathy for the women with this disease.