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Home > Ministers > The Hon Nicola Roxon MP - Minister for Health and Ageing > Media Hub > Speech for the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, Minister for Health and Ageing, to the AUSpharma 08 Medicines Australia Industry conference, Canberra, 8 April 2008

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PDF printable version of Speech for the Hon Nicola Roxon MP, Minister for Health and Ageing, to the AUSpharma 08 Medicines Australia Industry conference, Canberra, 8 April 2008 (PDF 23 KB)

8 April 2008

E&OE

I thank Medicines Australia for the invitation to speak at this conference and acknowledge Will Delaat - Chairman, Medicines Australia; Ian Chalmers - CEO, Medicines Australia; and Dr Pippa Mackay - Chair, Researched Medicines Industry of New Zealand.

The pharmaceutical sector and the innovator companies within it provide an essential service to the community, ensuring timely access to medicines and in the ongoing quest for improved products – new vaccines with the full preventative impact, life enhancing or life saving drugs and breakthroughs in many forms.

The Rudd Labor Government is committed to supporting an environment that encourages that research to continue and blossom and provide a stable policy base for a sustainable PBS system for the community and the industry long into the future.

I note here that recent reforms to the PBS have focused on fiscal sustainability and the internal efficiency of the scheme – these are issues which will, no doubt, continue to remain important in the coming years with ongoing work to be done in assessing the effectiveness of the reforms and bedding down remaining issues.

We do understand that whilst this major legislative reform package is complete – it is not all done and dusted. But I view this more as an ongoing fine tuning exercise rather than having a major shake-up in contemplation - no doubt something you will be pleased to hear!

With the many other significant reform plans we have in health from primary care to hospitals – we have quite enough large scale, system reform to keep us busy for some time.

As you know, we are fully committed to improving competition, achieving better value for money and recognising the importance of subsidising innovative drugs. We will carefully monitor the impact of the reforms to ensure the reforms have this intended effect.

For the future, we are determined to support a strong and growing industry in both the innovator and generics sectors. I expect my colleague, Kim Carr, will have more to say on this after morning tea. But from my perspective as Health Minister, it is certainly important that both sectors continue to thrive.

I note also that Senator Carr will also be announcing that the Government will be seeking to reconvene the Pharmaceuticals Industry Working Group, as a key forum of pharmaceuticals industry policy advice—but I will leave this to him to discuss in detail.

So whilst you should not expect radical reform in the medicines policies of the Rudd Government, you can expect to see our other reforms (such as the Government’s focus on prevention and health as an economic issue) highlight a key priority to better integrate the PBS and medicines policy into the broader health reform agenda.

In particular, I want to highlight the priority the Government places on preventative health and the role that the medicines sector can play in helping us to drive this agenda.

But let me first address some initial comments about the PBS.

One of the reasons that you can be assured of Labor’s priority on keeping the PBS strong is that the PBS is a core Labor program – it is part of Labor’s history. The PBS was initiated almost 60 years ago, in June 1948, with Chifley’s decision that the new drug, penicillin, should be made available to all Australians.

There are not many government programs that can make such claims to longevity and success! We are proud of it – and I think the pharmaceutical industry should be too.

Now, the PBS is the envy of many other countries for its capacity to provide broad access while controlling costs to consumers. At the same time, it has provided an efficient, transparent and predictable system for industry.

It is also fair to say that, despite the complex range of processes involved in listing a drug on the PBS, overall, PBS listings are achieved in a relatively timely way. Routine submissions are generally listed within 16-20 weeks. And more complex listings can often be progressed very quickly.

It is true there are times when you, and the community, might want faster action – similarly, there are times when Government wants lower prices. But, by and large, despite the occasional sniping, the system works very smoothly.

Take an example of Tykerb, for the treatment of breast cancer.

I am pleased to be able to announce today that the Rudd Government will list this drug on the PBS from 1 May, improving the quality of life of people suffering from advanced HER-2 positive breast cancer, and for some providing a prolonged survival.

Tykerb was recommended by the PBAC for PBS listing in December 2007. Despite all the complexity involved - around negotiations on price, risk sharing arrangements, and finalisation of the listing restriction - we have been able to achieve a listing date of 1 May 2008.

This is important news for people with advanced HER-2 positive breast cancer. HER-2 positive breast cancer is an aggressive form of cancer that particularly impacts upon younger women. Around 87 per cent of patients diagnosed with advanced breast cancer will die from the disease within five years. Tykerb has been found to slow the progress of and improve symptoms associated with advanced HER-2 positive breast cancer.

This is just one example of many – and although this is a smooth example, we are aware we need to constantly reviewing how things are working. The current Access to Medicines Working Group – a joint effort involving both Medicines Australia and my department – is looking at some of these issues. This includes considering the registration and listing process, how they work together and whether there are any process improvements that can be implemented.

Turning now to the Government’s broader health reform agenda, let me emphasise again that we recognise the very important role medicines play, and will continue to play, in improving health outcomes.

As many of you will know, the Government has nominated preventative health as having a central role to play in its broader health agenda. As part of the national refocus onto preventive processes, we are establishing a taskforce to develop a National Preventative Health Care Strategy.

Medicines issues are important to progressing this reform agenda. They have a critical role to play, particularly for chronic diseases, the cause of around 80 per cent of the burden of disease and injury.

A significant amount of PBS expenditure already relates to prevention and management of chronic disease. Many medicines help to address risk factors and slow the onset and progression of disease.

They also help reduce pressures on other parts of the health system, such as hospitals. This is an issue specifically taken into account by PBAC, when it considers submissions.

In this context, I am pleased to announce that today the Government will release the ninth edition of the Australian Immunisation Handbook. The Australian Immunisation Handbook provides the most up to date, evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for health professionals, on the safe and effective use of all vaccines available in Australia.

Immunisation is an essential element of the preventative health framework – and part of the proud history of Australian researchers and partnerships with industry.

This booklet educates parents on the importance of having children immunised and on when they are required to be immunised.

The handbook provides important information to health professionals on immunisation practice, new vaccines and vaccine preventable diseases in Australia. It is based on up-to-date scientific research and is endorsed by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia.

In addition to vaccines, the better use of a range of medicines in preventative health will be a critical issue for the future and one where we will be looking for input from your sector. I expect that this could occur on a number of different levels.

As an aside, I should say that, on the issue of industry input, I would particularly welcome any contribution that might be made by the medicines sector in improving access to medicines by indigenous Australians. As you will know, the Rudd Government has made some bold commitments in terms of improving health outcomes for indigenous Australians and closing the gap in life expectancy between the indigenous and non-indigenous communities.

One of the key areas of indigenous disadvantage in the health sector is access to medicines—indigenous Australians access the PBS at a significantly lower rate than non-indigenous Australians. I would therefore welcome any ideas from the medicines sector about how you might contribute to improving access to medicines by indigenous Australians.

Returning to the matter of how the industry might contribute to our broader prevention agenda, a key area will be in exploring improvements to our processes for providing access to new medicines. In this regard, I have already mentioned work on the registration and listing processes being undertaken by the Access to Medicines Working Group. This group, established as part of the 2006 PBS reforms, is important as a mechanism for ongoing liaison between my Department and Medicines Australia and a discussion point for improvements.

There are other areas around access to new medicines where your sector could explore a greater role: such as sponsoring drugs which are necessary for the care of small population groups.

Secondly, the Government is also very keen to see your industry engage more fully with the broader health reform agenda.

Both the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission and the Prevention Taskforce (to be announced shortly) will be expected to consult widely across the health care sector and the broader community in formulating their advice. I’d encourage you to take full advantage of this consultation.

Thirdly, I have already mentioned that we will be exploring better use of medicines in preventative health for which we will seek your input and advice. But I also want to a sound a few notes of caution here.

It will be very important to maintain a balanced approach. We need to be wary of simplistic analyses and exaggerated claims that assert the benefits of all medicines.

Whatever we do must be based on the strongest possible evidence. And we should not look at medicines in isolation, but rather look at what is most effective. Prevention and treatment may rely on a range of interventions, including lifestyle modification or medicines, or a combination of both.

So I believe there is a lot of opportunity for us to work together to better meet the health needs of the community –and lots of exciting opportunities to consider more broadly in the health debate the proper role of medicines and the industry in delivering those better outcomes.

I, and my colleagues in the new Government, look forward to working with you on these projects.

Thank you.