Pharmacy Daily | Towards a healthier nation

THE Australian healthcare system works well because stakeholders are prepared to work constructively and in partnership to negotiate arrangements that suit all parties, according to Medicines Australia ceo, Will Delaat. Speaking today at the National Press Club, Delaat stressed the importance of the PBS Memorandum of Understanding, and the passing of the National Health Amendment Bill legislation currently before the Senate, in order to secure a sustainable and mutually beneficial outcome for the health of Australians, the government and the medicines industry. The MoU is the first time that the collaborative relationship between stakeholders and the government has been formalised; and includes agreements that the medicines industry will reduce the price of medicines on the PBS saving the govt around $1,9b over five years. The MoU also stipulates that the govt. will introduce improvements to the PBS which will quicken the medicines approval rate; and that the govt and industry establish a jointly-managed horizon-scanning mechanism to ensure a sustainable, efficient and effective PBS. Under the agreement the govt. also must not undertake any price saving measures for four years. The MoU, Delaat stressed, is “an arrangement that would put to bed once and for all any lingering questions there may have been about the sustainability of the PBS”. “It will ensure that Australians pay less for hundreds of commonly used medicines,” he added. In terms of the National Health Amendment Bill legislation currently before the Senate, Delaat said that although Australia pays around 20% less than other OECD countries for new medicines, we pay more for older, off patient drugs. The sustainability of the PBS, he said, rests in driving savings through competition in the older, off patent market. Supported by the 50 member companies of Medicines Australia (which account for 86% of the PBS), the Bill is, according to Delaat, “a common-sense arrangement that benefits taxpayers, consumers and the medicines industry”. Delaat also outlined a four point plan which would improve Australia’s healthcare system and includes: the implementation of a new R&D tax credit system to encourage biopharmaceutical companies to invest in Australia; the introduction of a more efficient regulatory environment for clinical trials; the improvement of an intellectual property regime by bringing data protection provisions for innovation in line with international standards; and lastly, more debate and discussion between the govt, industry stakeholders, academia and healthcare professionals into the current delivery of healthcare reform in Australia and its ageing population. “There needs to be a debate about health delivery in Australia and how we meet the healthcare needs of an ageing population, whose expectations for everincreasing technological advancement are also increasing,” Delaat said.

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