According to a new report from Medicines Australia, Australians are facing growing delays in accessing innovative medicines, “with patients now waiting an average of 3.6 years for treatments already available overseas”.
The report, Access Denied, warns Australia is “slipping behind comparable countries” as delays within the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) system continue to grow.
Based on consultation with more than 30 global innovative medicine companies, the report has found that “only 26% of new medicines available in comparable OECD countries were funded in Australia”.
It also reveals, “84% of pharmaceutical companies believe Australia is becoming a lower priority launch market” for new medicines.
Medicines Australia CEO, Liz de Somer, says the country’s medicine system has failed to keep pace with the rapid advances in healthcare innovation.
“The PBS remains one of Australia’s greatest public policy achievements, but the world has changed dramatically since it was designed,” she says.
“Parts of the system that once worked well are crumbling under their own growing complexity.
“At the same time medicines are becoming more targeted, more personalised and more complex, while global competition for investment and access is intensifying.
“Without reform, Australians risk falling further behind comparable countries in gaining access to the latest treatments.”
The report also highlights a growing concern around international pricing pressures, including the United States’ proposed ‘Most Favoured Nation’ pricing policies, which could further reduce Australia’s attractiveness for early medicine launches.
According to the report, 43% of Australians prescribed medicines not listed on the PBS are paying out-of-pocket costs, while some patients are reportedly accessing their superannuation, increasing their mortgages, or taking on debt to fund treatment privately.
Michele Robbins, Chair of Patients Australia, says patients are increasingly aware of treatments available overseas but unable to access them locally.
“Patients know these treatments exist. They see the stories online, connect through support groups and watch people in other countries gain access while they continue to wait,” she says.
“Some Australians are also now dipping into their life savings, accessing their superannuation, increasing their mortgage or taking on debt in the hope of accessing treatment privately.
“We are drifting towards a two-tiered system where access depends on financial means rather than medical need. This is not the Australian way, and people are being left behind.”
Medicines Australia says the next Strategic Agreement negotiations represent a “critical opportunity for government and industry to modernise the PBS and ensure Australians are not left behind as global competition for innovative medicines intensifies”.
“It is incredibly difficult to live with a condition knowing that treatments exist overseas but cannot be accessed here in Australia,” says Dr Aaron Schokman, Research Fellow at the University of Sydney.
“We see the impact these medicines have on social media and hear how they are changing lives, but we are constantly left waiting.”
The report can be accessed via Medicines Australia.
