This election year, BCAC has joined forces with the Breast Cancer Foundation and 15 other patient advocacy organisations to publicise New Zealand’s shockingly poor access to publicly funded medicines. The Forbidden Pharmacy campaign aims to raise public and political awareness of the distressing situation many New Zealanders find themselves in - having to privately fund medicines to improve and extend their lives.
BCAC is only too aware of this problem for breast cancer patients in our country. Currently there are 31 medicines or indications (uses of medicines) that are recommended in international guidelines or in common use overseas but not funded in New Zealand. Nineteen of these medicines are funded in Australia.
The campaign highlights two of these breast cancer medicines – Enhertu (trastuzumab deruxtecan) for advanced HER2-low breast cancer and Keytruda (pembrolizumab) for early triple negative breast cancer.
On Saturday 25 July 2026 the ‘Forbidden Pharmacy’ installation at Auckland’s Shed 10 will be open to the public. The display will highlight a range of life-changing medicines that NZ patients need but cannot access, including two of the breast cancer medicines that we need. There will also be nationwide publicity, with interviews with women with breast cancer available online.
You can show your support by visiting the installation from 10 am to 5pm, visiting the website, talking to your friends and family about this issue, and sharing all you can on social media.
“Here’s hoping the politicians listen to this campaign and increase our medicines budget” says BCAC Chair Libby Burgess.
