Recently, the Gut Cancer Foundation made a comprehensive submission to the independent review panel set up by the Government to conduct a review of PHARMAC. Speaking about the submission, Executive Officer Liam Willis said, “the standard of care given for a number of gut cancers in New Zealand falls behind many other OECD countries. Not only does this impact Kiwis getting access to the latest and best treatment options, but it also prevents New Zealanders from participating in international clinical trials which become too expensive to operate in this country. As a voice for all cancers of the digestive system, we felt it was important to ensure the issues specific to our community were brought to the panel’s attention”.
The submission was made after consultation with colleagues in the Gastro-Intestinal clinician community and our partners in CANGO (Cancer NGO Coalition), and was reviewed by GCF’s board and Scientific Advisory Committee. You can read our full submission here.