Author: MIL-OSI Publisher

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Welcoming Natalie McMurtry, Chief Executive of Pharmac

Source: PHARMAC

In September Natalie McMurtry joined Pharmac as our new Chief Executive. We spoke with her about her background, what drew her to Pharmac, and what she hopes to achieve in her new role.

“I’m honoured to be Pharmac’s new Chief Executive and excited to be part of an organisation that plays such an important role in the health and wellbeing of New Zealanders,” says McMurtry.

McMurtry brings over 25 years of experience as a front-line clinician and senior health leader in Canada. She began her career as a paediatric critical care pharmacist before moving into strategic and operational leadership roles across Alberta’s health system – including responsibility for Alberta’s public drug program. Her governance experience includes serving on the boards of Canada’s Drug Agency and the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance.

“While every country’s health system is unique, the fundamentals remain the same – people need access to medicines to help them stay well,” she says.

“Throughout my career, I’ve focused on improving access to quality health care, including medicines, and ensuring that patients and their families are at the centre of decision-making.

“Joining Pharmac offered a unique opportunity to draw on my health leadership experience and contribute to an organisation resetting its focus to be more patient-centred and outward-looking.”

McMurtry describes her leadership style as upfront, transparent and empathetic. In her first few months, she’s been focused on listening and learning – meeting with staff, patients and their advocates, suppliers, Pharmac’s Board, the Minister of Health, and other key partners across the health system.

“I want Pharmac to be seen as an organisation that has the backs of patients and their families,” she says. “We need to be transparent and inclusive – and that means listening to people with lived experience and working in partnership with the wider health system.”

McMurtry has prioritised connecting with those most affected by Pharmac’s decisions. In October she attended the Valuing Life: New Zealand Medicines Access Summit – an early opportunity to meet with suppliers and consumers – and the monthly consumer update forum, where patient advocates engage directly with senior leaders, ask questions, and share their perspectives.

She has also been meeting with Pharmac’s Consumer and Patient Working Group and the Consumer Advisory Committee, both of which provide valuable lived experience to inform Pharmac’s work.

Looking ahead, McMurtry says she is excited about the opportunities and is focused on leading Pharmac in a collaborative and people-centred way.

“We have a talented and passionate team here,” she says. “I’m looking forward to supporting them and helping Pharmac continue to grow as a trusted and responsive organisation.”

Pharmac’s Board Chair, Paula Bennett, said of McMurtry’s appointment:

“Natalie stands out as a leader who is very experienced, empathetic, capable and determined. She has known the Pharmac model for years from afar and jumped at the opportunity to lead this wonderful organisation. She is a very considered person who respects and values our people.”

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Valuing Life: New Zealand Medicines Access Summit 2025

Source: PHARMAC

The Medicines Access Summit was a great opportunity to hear first-hand from patient advocates, suppliers, clinicians and others and make connections, says Pharmac Chief Executive, Natalie McMurtry.

“I was really pleased to be able to attend the summit in October, alongside our Board Chair Hon Paula Bennett as well as three other board members, our Senior Leadership Team and several other staff.”

Hosted by the Associate Minister of Health, Hon David Seymour, and aiming to address critical issues in medicine access the summit brought together a wide range of stakeholders including patient advocates, clinicians, health officials, suppliers, academics and politicians.

Some of the key themes were:

  • How New Zealand can sustainably fund access to an increasing number of modern medicines in a publicly funded health system.
  • How can Pharmac bring greater transparency and understanding around our processes and the decisions we make.
  • How we could enhance Pharmac’s decision-making, prioritisation, funding policies, and processes in the face of rising demand for modern medicines.
  • Current legislative reform underway (Pae Ora, Medicines amendment bill) and how we might modernise Pharmac’s statutory functions.

“I’d like to acknowledge the incredible amount of work Dr Malcolm Mulholland, Patient Voice Aotearoa and Medicines New Zealand put into organising this event. Rachel Smalley also did a wonderful job as MC,” McMurtry says. Mulholland and Smalley are members of Pharmac’s Consumer and Patient Working Group, as Chair and Deputy Chair.

“The constructive conversations held over the two days were invaluable. Many different voices at the summit all came together with a shared goal – improving access to medicines for all New Zealanders.”

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First 90-Day Plan completed in the Reset Programme

Source: PHARMAC

Pharmac’s Consumer and Patient Working Group, in collaboration with Pharmac staff, has successfully completed the first 90-day action plan of the 12-month Reset Programme.

The Reset Programme is the first phase of Pharmac’s five-year improvement journey, focused on delivering meaningful change for consumers and patients, while laying the groundwork for long-term reform.

“The reset programme supports Pharmac to be a more outward-focussed and transparent organisation that values and actively engages with consumers and stakeholders, we’re focused on putting patients and their families at the centre of everything we do,” says Pharmac Chief Executive, Natalie McMurtry.

The first 90-day plan, which ran from 1 July to 30 September 2025, began with the appointment of a 10-member Consumer and Patient Working Group, chaired by patient advocate Dr Malcolm Mulholland. Four key actions were completed:

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Future of national medical device procurement

Source: PHARMAC

In late September the Government announced changes to the procurement of hospital medical devices in New Zealand to reduce costs, duplication and confusion.

Pharmac and Health NZ will be responsible for procuring devices that are most focused on their capabilities and expertise.

The changes will help industry stakeholders understand which agency to work with on different types of medical devices.

“This decision is about providing clarity for suppliers, reducing duplication, and making the system work better for everyone,” says Pharmac’s Director of Medical Devices, Catherine Epps.

Pharmac and Health NZ worked together to identify which of the 55 categories of medical devices they should each be responsible for. Pharmac will lead procurement for 27 categories, while Health NZ will lead 28.

Pharmac will generally be the lead agency for devices that have a direct therapeutic impact on patients and that need a high level of clinical input. For instance, this includes surgical implants and anaesthetic machines.  

“This change leverages the strength of both agencies,” says Epps. “A clear split of responsibilities will also provide the transparency and certainty that suppliers have been asking for.”

Health NZ will generally be the lead agency for high-volume devices that can be standardised across hospitals. This includes things such as Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and continence products.

Health NZ will also be responsible for procuring devices that need to be integrated into hospital infrastructure, such as MRIs and CT scanners.

As part of this new arrangement, Pharmac will also deliver high-quality, independent assessments to support access to new and innovative devices.

“We’ve received a clear direction from Ministers in the form of a joint Letter of Expectations for Pharmac and Health New Zealand,” Epps says.

The Government expects Pharmac and Health NZ to work together to develop joint priorities and develop an annual medical device plan, as well as create more opportunities for early engagement with suppliers and clinicians.

“We’re looking forward to working closely with Health NZ on the future of hospital medical device procurement,” Epps says.

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$604m budget boost: How your feedback shaped our decisions

Source: PHARMAC

Pharmac is focussed on being a more outward-focused and transparent organisation; and one of the ways we are doing that is by improving how we share information.

“We’ve received consistent feedback asking us to improve how we share information about our funding processes,” says Adrienne Martin, Director Pharmaceuticals. “We’ve taken that on board.”

The $604 million budget uplift for the 2024/25 financial year was an early opportunity to improve engagement. It was the largest funding increase in Pharmac’s history.

“It was a significant amount of funding to allocate very quickly, while keeping people informed at each stage of the process,” says Martin. “We introduced new tools which helped us do this better.,

One of these tools was a dedicated funding uplift webpage, so health professionals and the public could see all of the funding proposals and consultations underway in real time – Progress to funding cancer and other medicines(external link).

“We wanted to clearly show what was being consulted on, what feedback was considered, and what medicines had been funded.”

Pharmac is exploring how we continue using this approach following positive feedback.

Pharmac also received feedback by working closely with other organisations, such as Health New Zealand and the Cancer Control Agency.  

“We received substantial feedback on funding proposals from affected people, their families, consumer advocacy groups, and health care professionals. It helped to make sure we were considering the right things and led to a number of changes to our proposals,” says Martin.

Some examples of the changes made to funded medicines included:

“We know we’re not going to always get our proposals 100% right,” says Martin. “We’re always open to feedback. We can’t fix what we don’t know, so we’re very grateful when new information to consider is raised with us.”

Contact enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz if you have any suggestions for how we can improve the information we share about funding consultations and decisions.

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Samoa do it the hard way to qualify for 2027 Rugby World Cup

Source: Radio New Zealand

Samoan rugby players lay down their challenge. RAUL ZAMORA/PHOTOSPORT / AFP

Samoa have clinched a place at the 2027 Rugby World Cup after a dramatic finish to the final qualifying tournament in Dubai.

Samoa finished top of the four-team tournament after drawing 13-13 with Belgium in the last game.

It is the tenth time the Pacific Islanders have qualified for a World Cup, but they did it the hard way.

Belgium, who were hoping to attend their first World Cup, led 6-3 at half time.

Abraham Papali’i scored a try for Samoa in the 63rd minute, but Belgian captain Jean-Maurice Decubber touched down in the 72nd minute to set up a tense finish.

Knowing a draw was good enough for them to qualify, Samoa managed to safely play out the last few minutes.

They are the 24th and last team to secure their place at the tournament in Australia.

Samoa finished on 12 points, Belgium 11, Namibia 6 and Brazil 2.

The 17th ranked Samoans have played in every World Cup, except the first in 1987, and have twice made the quarter-finals.

The draw for the 2027 World Cup will be made on 3 December.

The 12 teams that finished in the top three of their pools at Rugby World Cup 2023 automatically qualified for Rugby World Cup 2027.

They were France, New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, South Africa, Scotland, Wales, Fiji, Australia, England, Argentina and Japan.

The 12 remaining places were reserved for teams that qualified through various tournaments … they were: Georgia, Spain, Romania, Portugal, Tonga, Canada, United States, Uruguay, Chile, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong China and now Samoa.

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Weather: Auckland bearing the brunt of heavy rain

Source: Radio New Zealand

Heavy rain warnings in the North Island as of 6am Wednesday. Supplied / MetService

Central Auckland is bearing the brunt of the rain this morning, MetService says.

Orange heavy rain warnings are in place for Northland, Auckland and Great Barrier Island (until 2pm), Waitomo, Waikato and Taupō (until 6pm), Bay of Plenty (until 11pm) and Tongariro National Park (until 10pm).

MetService meteorologist Samkelo Magwala said all those areas had received a “decent amount” of rain overnight.

It was heaviest in Auckland, particularly in the central city, he said.

“Some stations in Auckland have recorded about 15.5mm of rain in the period of an hour, some even as high as 21mm of rain,” he said.

There was a possibility of flooding with that amount of rain, Magwala said.

The band of rain would move eastwards throughout the day, easing before another band was due to ramp up again in the afternoon.

Gisborne was not under a weather warning, but the rain was heading that way later this afternoon, he said.

After Wednesday, high pressure would begin to build, Magwala said, “giving us some more settled weather for a couple of days”.

Taumarunui and Taihape north of Ohakune, as well as Taranaki are also under heavy rain watches until Wednesday.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Health New Zealand says another 10,000 immunised against measles

Source: Radio New Zealand

Health New Zealand has the target of 95 percent of two year olds being fully vaccinated. 123rf

Health NZ says another 10,000 people have been immunised against measles, but experts warn more coverage is needed to help those with immune deficiencies.

The National Public Service’s Nikki Canter-Burgoyne said 10,847 people were vaccinated against Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) last week.

It comes after an immunisation drive earlier this month which saw an extra 15,000 people vaccinated.

There are 19 confirmed cases in the current measles outbreak.

“It’s heartening to see continued interest in people protecting themselves and their tamariki from measles a week after Immunisation Week finished,” Canter-Burgoyne said.

The national childhood vaccination rate in New Zealand is at 82.6 percent. Coverage of 95 percent in the community is required to prevent outbreaks and protect populations, The World Health Organisation said.

Health New Zealand also has the target of 95 percent of two year olds being fully vaccinated.

Dr Nikki Turner, from the Immunisation Advisory Centre, said it was vital to reach community immunity when some people couldn’t get the vaccine.

She said as a live vaccine, MMR could pose risk for those with significant immune deficiencies, including people on medications for Crohn’s disease, arthritis, people undergoing chemotherapy, or those with HIV. It also cannot be given to those who are pregnant.

“MMR is what we call live attenuated, so it doesn’t cause measles, but when you give the vaccine it can replicate inside you, so that if you have a significant immune problem, it can replicate quite vigourously inside you, and cause what looks like measles.”

Turner said those with immune deficiencies were at higher risk of developing severe complications from measles – including pneumonia, brain inflammation or death.

“We do not want these people to get measles.”

Associate professor Andrew Harrison, medical director at Arthritis New Zealand, said this was an issue for a significant proportion of the population.

“I know it’s caused a fair amount of concern”.

He said a decision needed to be made on a case by case basis for patients with arthritis who did not have immunity to measles.

Harrison said the MMR vaccine could be given to people with certain lower-level treatments for inflammatory arthritis, whereas advice for those on heavy immunosuppressants – such as TNF inhibitors – was that they stopped medications if they needed the vaccine.

“If they carry on with their treatment – the risk is that the live vaccine will expand and proliferate in their bloodstream and tissues, and cause an infection, which can be harmful.”

He said guidelines differed between Health NZ’s Immunisation Handbook and guidelines from the American College of Rheumatology.

“The best approach is to tailor the advice for the individual patient according to their circumstances, and to balance the risks of developing measles against the risk of vaccine-related syndrome.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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At-risk yellowhead mohua returned to Matukituki Valley after long absence

Source: Radio New Zealand

A mohua settling into its new home in the Matukituki Valley. RNZ/Katie Todd

Fifty tiny, yellow songbirds have been released in a corner of Mount Aspiring National Park that hasn’t heard their chirps in years.

Conservationists hope the at-risk mohua can set up a new foothold in the Matukituki Valley, west of Wānaka, after years of intensive predator-control work by passionate locals.

Also called yellowhead, the birds were once among the most abundant species in South Island forests in the 1800s, but now number fewer than 5000.

To revive the population, the Department of Conservation has seeded populations on predator-free offshore islands, then returned small groups to carefully managed mainland sites.

Southern Lakes Sanctuary Matukituki hub co-ordinator Scotty Bewley said the valley’s new arrivals were delivered by helicopter from Anchor Island in Dusky Sound on 14 October.

“It just gives the species the opportunity to hopefully rebuild itself in a natural environment to become stronger, to become more resilient to the challenges that we face as the world changes and for people to enjoy them in multiple areas,” he said.

Southern Lakes Sanctuary staff carried out a census last week to see how the newcomers had settled and spotted a dozen birds across three sites – a result Bewley described as heartening, after a stretch of stormy weather.

“For 12 birds to be found in the first census over two days is quite encouraging,” he said. “It shows that the birds have survived through a pretty turbulent weather period, but also stayed in the area and haven’t found the need to vacate.

Volunteers releasing the mohua in Matukituki Valley, west of Wānaka, in October. Supplied/Geoff Marks

“They’ve found suitable habitat.”

For Bewley, watching three mohua flitting around the forest canopy on Monday near Cascade Hut, a kilometre from the release site, was a particularly special moment.

“It’s fantastic for the Mohua Recovery Group and the Department of Conservation to feel as though they can be released here,” he said.

“They’re a beautiful native bird. They were here at one point and now we have the opportunity to enjoy them again.”

Years of community work

Much of the Matukituki Valley’s predator control has been driven by locals, who refuse to watch their backyard fall silent.

Geoff Marks, a trustee with the Matukituki Charitable Trust, said residents noticed kea numbers slipping in 2013 and felt compelled to step in.

“Derek and Gillian Crombie, who set up the trust, walked into a Department of Conservation office and said, ‘What can we do to help?'” he said.

“While the translocation of mohua was never an original objective, we were hopeful that one day we might be able to translocate other species.

“This is just the culimnation of incredibly hard work by lots and lots of volunteers, and many, many hours of getting sweaty in the hills, and coming home stinking of dead rats and stoats.”

Scott Bewley, Matukituki hub co-ordinator for Southern Lakes Sanctuary. RNZ/Katie Todd

Southern Lakes Sanctuary came on board in 2021, helping co-ordinate the valley’s work, as part of a wider regional effort.

Bewley spent hours each week on steep trap-lines, testing new devices for rats, stoats, possums and feral cats.

Nearly 1000 traps are scattered across the valley, he said, from experimental stoat designs backed by Predator Free NZ to AI-enabled devices that powered down, whenever a curious kea hopped too close.

Many of the traps were on Mt Aspiring Station, which covered much of the valley floor.

Co-owner Sally Aspinall said letting conservation groups in was an easy decision.

“Getting rid of pests and predators is beneficial for everyone,” she said. “This is a special place.

“We farm it, but we want it to be in a better state when we leave it than when we arrived.”

Kererū numbers had surged in recent years, Aspinall said – she counted 22 in a single paddock not long ago – and birdlife in general had become noticeably more present.

“They’ve done a good job. We’ve definitely been noticing a lot more birdlife around the farm.”

A previous success story

Conservationists hoped the mohua would follow the same trajectory as the South Island robin.

Twenty-two robins were released into the valley in 2008 – that population had since ballooned to about 500.

Southern Lakes Sanctuary chief executive Paul Kavanagh said this year’s beech mast meant even more vigilance was required.

“We’ll be ramping up protection work, because with a beech-mast also comes an increase in rats and stoats,” he said. “This work has to continue in perpetuity to make sure they’re safe.

“It’s one thing getting the birds returned to that area, but now we have to make sure they’re as safe as possible.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

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Graduating nursing students nervous about delays to job offers

Source: Radio New Zealand

Advanced Choice of Employment hints at more nursing employment opportunities after the delay. Adobe Stock

A nursing student says he’s “disappointed, but not surprised” by delays in announcing job offers to graduate nurses.

Graduating student nurses were notified on Tuesday they would not hear results of job applications the following day as expected.

Applications for jobs were made through the Advanced Choice of Employment (ACE) process, which matched nurses to positions in the health system.

An email sent to students sitting their final examinations this week said job offers would be pushed back to 28 November.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, but the extra time will be used to consider additional positions across Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora,” ACE organisers wrote.

National Student Unit (NSU) chair Davis Ferguson said he was excited to find out on Wednesday where he might be placed when he started work.

He said he was aware of controversy surrounding Health NZ plans to hire more graduate nurses on part-time hours, but had to hope that the health agency was acting in good faith.

“It’s a very powerless situation, because I can’t have any control over how many jobs there are going to be in nursing, so you’ve got to take it at face value,” Ferguson said. “There’s nothing you can really do about it.”

He said watching the changes in the health system had “been a rollercoaster” during his last three years of study.

“From when I first started – hearing students are pretty much guaranteed a job – to this year, where only 45 percent of nursing graduates got jobs in the mid-year intake.”.

He said the state of the health system had “strengthened my resolve” to make a difference in his future role.

“We go into nursing, because we want to help.

“I think it’s made a lot of people disheartened and more likely to go over to Australia, or seek other employment in places that they never considered, but I think everyone is doing the best they can at the moment.”

He hoped any additional positions uncovered in the delayed process would offer enough hours to properly support the nurses.

“I hope this delay leads to better quality jobs for nursing graduates. We’re wanting to be looked after by good quality jobs, so we can be the best nurses for our patients.

“Making sure that new grad nurses can put food on their table and a roof over their head, so we can provide a quality healthcare for our New Zealand public.”

Health New Zealand people, culture, health and safety executive national director Robyn Shearer would not comment on the reasons behind the delay.

She said the organisation was committed to “assisting graduate nurses into jobs across the health system”.

Shearer said HNZ was working to place as many graduates as possible into employment.

“We expect to be in a position to make offers by the end of this month.”

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand