Tag: new zealand healthcare
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From confrontation to cooperation: How New Zealand’s attitude to medicines has changed
When I arrived in New Zealand 25 years ago, I was struck by the almost visceral hostility between the pharmaceutical industry and Pharmac. I came from Britain, where relations between government, the pharmaceutical industry, and the NHS were sometimes confrontational, but there was an understanding that industry, regulators and the health services had an obligation…
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When Healthcare Becomes part of Our Identity
By Peter BoyesStrategic communications adviser specialising in healthcare and public policy• 6 min read One of the enduring puzzles of modern politics is why intelligent people continue to support politicians whose policies appear, at least to outside observers, to conflict with their own interests. The question is repeatedly asked about Donald Trump and his…
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Why healthcare policy needs a whole-system view
As New Zealand moves towards another general election, the promise of better healthcare policy is once more high on the list of issues most likely to influence voters. Yet again, our political parties are offering a smorgasbord of prescriptions for improving performance, reducing waiting times, strengthening services and improving access to medicines. Different parties will…
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Is New Zealand entering a more collaborative era in medicines policy?
Some New Zealand patients can wait years longer for access to publicly funded new medicines than patients in comparable OECD countries. For people living with serious conditions such as cancer, rare diseases and autoimmune disorders, those delays can mean treatments available overseas are simply not yet options here. That gap has long been accepted as…