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Speaker 1: Here we go again. In crisis is the word of

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Speaker 1: the year, is it not. Heart services are now being

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Speaker 1: described as in crisis and they need much needed drugs

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Speaker 1: and they need funding. The Cardiac Society is calling on

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Speaker 1: FARMAC to cover chronic heart failure medicines with their funding boost.

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Speaker 1: The drugs have been standard in cardiac care in the UK,

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Speaker 1: Australia and Canada, but here in New Zealand they're only

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Speaker 1: funded for type two diabetics who meet certain criteria. This

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Speaker 1: is while cardiovascular disease remains our number one cause of mortality.

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Speaker 1: So the chair of the New Zealand Cardiac Society, Martin Styles,

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Speaker 1: is joining me. Good morning to you, mattin morning and

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Speaker 1: you good. Did you feel a little bit left out

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Speaker 1: with all the FARMAC and the funding news about cancer

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Speaker 1: and not hearts.

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Speaker 2: Well, we as a cardiology community have been watching the

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Speaker 2: news closely with all the cancer funding that's been talked

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Speaker 2: about on the media, and we are delighted to see

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Speaker 2: that the cancer patients are getting more funding, in fact

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Speaker 2: even more funding than they were initially promised. However, as

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Speaker 2: you've already mentioned, cardivascular disease remains the number one killer

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Speaker 2: of New Zealanders. So we meet to sure we need

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Speaker 2: to make sure that the funding that's been given to

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Speaker 2: far MAC is distributed equitably across all diseases.

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Speaker 1: And why haven't these drugs been funded before?

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Speaker 2: Well, that's a good question. I mean, we know that

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Speaker 2: if a patient with heart failure is given optimal therapy

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Speaker 2: with drugs, they can extend their period between their diagnosis

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Speaker 2: and being hospitalized or dying by about eight years, which

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Speaker 2: is a very long time, as you can probably imagine.

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Speaker 2: So we're keen to see these drugs funded. There's many

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Speaker 2: classes of drugs that could help, but at the moment,

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Speaker 2: as you point out, you have to have a really

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Speaker 2: narrow range of things. You have to have both diabetes

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Speaker 2: and a particular type of heart failure and a few

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Speaker 2: other criteria that we have to then right to the

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Speaker 2: government and ask permission to get funding for it.

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Speaker 1: Okay, So what happens if you don't get funding for it.

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Speaker 2: Well, you can pay for it yourself. It's about one

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Speaker 2: hundred dollars a month, and for some people that's achievable,

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Speaker 2: but for many people it's not. And I think the

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Speaker 2: other issue that we're finding in health across New Zealand

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Speaker 2: is an inequity between those who have money to fund

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Speaker 2: their own medications or pay for their own surgery and

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Speaker 2: those who don't. And for instance, if we're looking at

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Speaker 2: Mariing Pacific Island patients, if you're under the age of

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Speaker 2: fifty and a Mario Pacific Island patient person, you are

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Speaker 2: something like five times more likely to get heart failure

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Speaker 2: than a parky heart patient. And so there's these inequity

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Speaker 2: in our society, which is compounded by the fact that

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Speaker 2: these drugs aren't funded.

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Speaker 1: Have you been talking to political parties, because let's be

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Speaker 1: honest about it, the increase in cancer funding came from

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Speaker 1: great lobbying to the National Party to make it part

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Speaker 1: of an election campaign. Have you been doing the same Yeah,

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Speaker 1: well haven't.

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Speaker 2: The Cancer Society has been doing a great job of that,

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Speaker 2: and I think we need to up our game perhaps

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Speaker 2: in this regard. Yes, the chair of the New Zealand

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Speaker 2: cadect Network has spoken with David Seamo. I understand. I

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Speaker 2: don't know the outcome of that meeting, but we are

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Speaker 2: pushing hard to get these drugs funded.

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Speaker 1: How much money do you need?

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Speaker 2: Well, the issue with healthcare, as I'm sure you're aware,

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Speaker 2: is that healthcare has this tendency to soak up as

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Speaker 2: much money as you give it. But on the other hand,

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Speaker 2: if you look at it another way, if you're able

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Speaker 2: to treat these patients and prevent their hospitalization, prevent them

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Speaker 2: from being unwell, missing work or whatever, then actually you

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Speaker 2: reap the economic benefits downstream. So I see it not

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Speaker 2: as a cost but as an investment for New Zealand.

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Speaker 1: How can people get in touch with you and help out.

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Speaker 2: With the lobbying, well, I would suggest I'm the chair

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Speaker 2: of the cardect Society, so it's an organization of cardiovascular

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Speaker 2: professionals across New Zealand. But places like the Heart Foundation,

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Speaker 2: they're quite good for lobbying. People can talk to their

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Speaker 2: own mp people can perhaps approach Farmak directly. And I

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Speaker 2: think if you're listening to this, then you've got heart

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Speaker 2: failure and maybe that you're missing out on a really

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Speaker 2: important therapy that you could lobby and help us get

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Speaker 2: these things funded.

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Speaker 1: Madam Styles at the chair of the New Zealand card

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Speaker 1: Ex Society, thank you so much for your time today,

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Speaker 1: Have yourself a great morning, and there we go. It started.

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Speaker 1: You fund one area and other areas come up, and

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Speaker 1: that's just the way human nature is.

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