Pharmac will extend funded cancer medicines to young people with childhood-type cancers from 14 October, the agency said in a media release on 30 September.
The change updates Rule 8.1(b) of the Pharmaceutical Schedule. The rule gives children with cancer, treated in a paediatric oncology service, funded access to any medicine used to treat their cancer.
Some adolescents and young adults get the same or very similar treatment as children, Pharmac says. But their access to medicines depends on where they receive care.
“From 14 October, this access will be extended to adolescents and young adults with paediatric-origin cancers who meet the eligibility criteria,” said Pharmac's Chief Medical Officer, Dr David Hughes.
“This change will mean eligible adolescents and young adults with paediatric-origin cancers can access funded medicines regardless of whether they receive care in a paediatric or adult setting,” Hughes said.
A paediatric-origin cancer is one of a defined group that typically arises in childhood. The list includes acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, osteosarcoma, Ewings sarcoma and neuroblastoma.
To qualify, treatment must use a paediatric-based protocol, and the patient must meet Health New Zealand's criteria for its adolescent and young adult cancer services.
That service is generally for young people aged 12 to 24. Pharmac says someone outside that range may still be treated through it where that is clinically appropriate.
Anyone who turns 25 during treatment stays eligible until that course of treatment is finished.
Pharmac expects around 15 adolescents and young adults a year to become eligible for funded treatment.
Rule 8.1(b) dates from 2005, when Pharmac took over cancer treatment funding decisions from district health boards. Around 150 children a year are diagnosed with cancer in New Zealand.
Pharmac reviewed the rule and consulted the public in 2023. In March 2024 it said the rule would be kept and strengthened.
Pharmac says it worked on the latest change with other health agencies, the Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer Network Aotearoa, the National Child Cancer Network and its Cancer Treatment Advisory Committee.
“Cancer in childhood and adolescence can have lasting impacts on health, but also on education, employment, and social development. Improved access to funded treatment may help reduce some of these impacts,” Hughes said.
