Kōrero: Medicines and remedies

The New Zealand Pharmaceuticals Management Agency (Pharmac) manages state expenditure on medicines. Some of its decisions are not popular with health consumers. In the early 2000s Pharmac provided the drug Herceptin to women in the late stages of HER2-positive breast cancer. This demonstration was organised to protest against a decision not to provide the treatment to women in the early stages of the disease. Nine weeks’ treatment for early sufferers was provided in 2007, and the new National-led government extended the treatment to 12 months in 2008.