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9 weeks Herceptin only a partial subsidy
Auckland, 1 July 2007
PHARMAC’s decision to fund 9 weeks’ Herceptin treatment with a taxane as of July 1 will ease access to the drug for New Zealand women but the Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition (BCAC) says 12 months is the internationally accepted standard of care for early HER2 positive breast cancer. 24 OECD countries now fully fund Herceptin.
‘9 weeks of Herceptin treatment has not been proven to be effective,’ said Libby Burgess, Chair of BCAC. ’Women will still be told by their cancer specialists that 12 months’ Herceptin is the recommended course of treatment for early HER2 positive breast cancer. The safest response to PHARMAC’s 9 weeks of funded Herceptin is to view it as a partial subsidy. It is certainly not a substitute for the international standard of 12 months’ treatment.’
Data presented at the recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Chicago, June 1-5) showed that after 4 years of follow-up, women who had been treated with Herceptin for 12 months were 52% less likely to have had a return of their cancer and 35% less likely to have died from it. ‘These figures speak for themselves,’ said Ms Burgess. ‘New Zealand women will continue to wonder why their lives are valued less than those of women in the 24 OECD countries now funding 12 months.’
The 24 OECD countries now funding 12 months of Herceptin are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom and the USA.
