Women march for medicines to extend their lives

Women from all walks of life are preparing to march on Parliament to call for ‘‘game changing’’ breast cancer drugs to be publicly funded.

Palmerston North woman Wiki Mulholland, 40, is part of the group heading to Wellington on October 16 to deliver a petition calling for Ibrance, a treatment for advanced breast cancer, to be made available to more women.

She wants to extend her life so she can spend more time with her three children, who are aged from 10 to 17.

Mulholland was diagnosed in May with metastatic breast cancer, the most advanced stage of breast cancer, which has spread to her bones.

When her family started looking at treatment options, they learnt that Ibrance was the next step after chemotherapy, but it is not one of the medicines Pharmac has selected to be subsidised.

This drug comes with a hefty price tag of almost $5800 a month, and for Mulholland to take it, she also requires another drug, which costs $1000 a month.

A petition was started by Levin woman Terre Nicholson almost a year ago calling for Ibrance to be publicly funded and it has attracted more than 29,000 signatures.

Another petition calling for another drug, Kadcyla, to be funded has more than 1500 signatures.

Nicholson said Ibrance and Kadcyla were hailed as game changers for women with advanced breast cancer and could extend lives by years.

‘‘Two years may not sound like much. But it’s literally a lifetime for us.

‘‘We all have very important reasons to want extra time – time to spend with our family and other loved ones. For mothers, it can mean helping children adapt and cope or that their toddlers will be old enough to remember them.’’

Ibrance is being considered for funding after drug company Pfizer made an application to Pharmac in February.

Pharmac director of operations Lisa Williams said possible opportunities for new investment would always exceed Pharmac’s budget, so the agency had to prioritise.

Pharmac’s budget has increased over time, going from $694 million in 2009-10 to $985m in 2018-19.

At the same time, the scope of what the budget covers has increased.

‘‘Having a fixed budget forces Pharmac to take a very considered approach, to ensure we get the best value we can from expenditure.

‘‘Pharmac works to promote competition among medicine suppliers, and uses the savings made to reinvest in other medicines.’’

DAVID UNWIN/STUFF Wiki Mulholland is part of a group going to Wellington to hand a petition to the Government asking for Ibrance, a breast cancer treatment drug, to be publicly funded.