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Speaker 1: Are there are calls for FARMAC to change up the

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Speaker 1: way it funds drugs are report commissioned by Multiple Sclerosis

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Speaker 1: New Zealand says it's time to base funding decisions not

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Speaker 1: just on the cost of the medical device, but on

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Speaker 1: the impact we'll have on the health system and society

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Speaker 1: as a whole. The cost benefit model has been widely

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Speaker 1: used overseas and was recommended by the Treasury in twenty fifteen.

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Speaker 1: Neil Woodhams is the Multiple Sclerosis New Zealand President. He's

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Speaker 1: with me this morning. Neil, Good morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Good morning Ryan, how are you well?

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Speaker 1: Thank you. My first question is has this not changed already?

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Speaker 1: David Seymour gave a directive, did he not to Farmac

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Speaker 1: to do something like this?

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Speaker 2: Yes, we are hopeful as this changed. We actually started

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Speaker 2: this report last year and it's the first detailed, evidently

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Speaker 2: based report on the subject. We think it supports David

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Speaker 2: Seymour's position, but we also think it's worthwhile demonstrating execs

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Speaker 2: what those costs are and how significant they are.

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Speaker 1: Can you give us one example of a medicine that

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Speaker 1: we don't currently fund, you know, using the old model

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Speaker 1: versus your new one.

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Speaker 2: Well, the medicine that we use in this case is

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Speaker 2: a drug called ocalism ab, which has been approved for

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Speaker 2: relapsing remitting MS, but not for primary progressive MS until

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Speaker 2: just very recently. It took us about I suppose eight

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Speaker 2: years to get that drug approved, and so we've based

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Speaker 2: the report, or Richard Milners based the report on the

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Speaker 2: modeling that was done for OSM. But the model that

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Speaker 2: he's used is applicable to any drug in a similar situation.

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Speaker 1: It's basically saying there are wider benefits to society, to

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Speaker 1: the health system, etc. From using these drugs other than

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Speaker 1: it might save one, two, three lives whatever.

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Speaker 2: That's absolutely right. I mean there are significant costs to

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Speaker 2: the government in a disease like multiple sclerosis that farmic

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Speaker 2: don't take into account. For example, this cost to social

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Speaker 2: welfare when people stop working and go on to an

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Speaker 2: unemployment benefit or a disability benefit. But there's also very

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Speaker 2: substantial cost to the family and to the individual. People

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Speaker 2: with MS may well stop work fifteen twenty years before

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Speaker 2: they would be due to retire, and so there's the

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Speaker 2: whole impact economic impact of the family of a loss

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Speaker 2: of an income and then on retirement, can we save

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Speaker 2: for etc.

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Speaker 1: Etc. It's interesting, isn't it. I mean something you would

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Speaker 1: have thought obviously Treasury recommended it in twenty fifteen. It's

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Speaker 1: something you would have thought that a government would be

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Speaker 1: looking at doing, or a lens through which they would

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Speaker 1: look at funding. Anyway, Neil, thank you for that. New

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Speaker 1: Wadham's the multiple Scleritist New Zealand President.

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Speaker 2: For more from early edition with Ryan Bridge. Listen live

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