Pharmac funding: Do we need to change how we pay for medicine?

It may have taken a month to get there, but the Government has fulfilled its promise to fund new cancer drugs.

Rather than the 13 promised on the campaign trail, it's giving $604 million for 54 new medicines, including 26 cancer treatments.

It's hoped the promised cancer drugs will be rolled out within the next year and a half – with the first becoming available from October.

But the back and forth over National’s pre-election promise has raised questions about why it’s so difficult to fund drugs in this country – and if Pharmac is up to the task.

Today on The Front Page, University of Auckland Professor Dr Paula Lorgelly joins us to discuss if our decades-old process needs a refresh.

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Host: Chelsea Daniels
Sound Engineer: Paddy Fox
Producer: Ethan Sills

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