Category: MIL-OSI

Source: Maritime New Zealand

New Zealand recently led an inspection campaign to assess seafarers’ employment conditions on board ships of various flag states subject to Port State Control. The campaign was a collaboration between both the Tokyo and Paris Memoranda of Understanding, with Maritime NZ staff participating throughout.

Source: PHARMAC

Pharmac is sharing the agenda for the upcoming Rare Disorders Advisory Committee meeting to be held on Tuesday 10 June 2025.

Source: PHARMAC

An independent review has found that Pharmac needs to make significant organisational changes over the next five years to meet public and stakeholders’ expectations.

Pharmac’s Board commissioned organisational expert Debbie Francis to undertake a review at the end of last year. Board Chair Paula Bennett has welcomed the review’s findings and thanked Pharmac staff and external stakeholders for taking part, and Debbie Francis for her expertise.

“Pharmac is full of committed, passionate people and we wanted to understand what a positive organisational culture could look like in five years, and how to achieve that,” she says.

“This review, along with the feedback from the two consumer engagement workshops last year and the independent review of Pharmac in 2022, provides a clear sense of the direction we need to take as an organisation.”

Bennett says Pharmac is preparing for a reset to make the organisation more outward-focused and is confident that consumers and stakeholders will start to see the changes that they have been asking for.

The Pharmac Board has proactively released the executive summary of the independent workplace culture review on Pharmac’s website.

Source: PHARMAC

Life was admin heavy

“Life was just admin heavy. I was doing injections every day and testing my blood sugar at every meal, so I was ecstatic when I heard the news,” she says.

“I think back to when I was 10, and my mum would wake me up two-to-three times every night to check my blood sugar. This technology will make a real difference for people with diabetes, especially children.”

The process of funding CGMs alongside insulin pumps involved innovation, commercial processes, collaboration, and the input of the wider health and disability system.

How we did it

The process began in February 2023 when Pharmac gave notice of a future procurement opportunity to suppliers. In July 2023, Pharmac invited proposals from suppliers through a request for proposals. Pharmac then developed a proposal to fund CGMs alongside insulin pumps and insulin pump consumables and asked the public what they thought.

“We received significant feedback. While most of the feedback supported our proposal, it was clear that we needed to do further work with clinicians, consumer groups, and suppliers, to better understand the options and the needs of people with diabetes. We knew how important it was to get this right,” says Pharmac Senior Therapeutic Group Manager, Conal Edwards. 

People were central to our work

In May 2024, Pharmac extended the funding timeline to ensure we had all the information needed to make the right decision.

Throughout June and July, Pharmac staff met with a large range of people to discuss the feedback. This included the Pharmac Diabetes Advisory Committee, Diabetes NZ, the New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes, Health New Zealand, and other government agencies, as well as suppliers, and other interested parties.

Pharmac hosted an online webinar for the first time, attended by over 700 people, to provide an update on the CGM work. This provided the community a chance to engage directly with Pharmac and have their questions and concerns addressed by Pharmac staff. 

A decision is made

In August, Pharmac staff presented the updated proposal, including the feedback and amendments made, to the Pharmac Board. The Board approved the proposal and from 1 October 2024, CGMs were funded and available to people with type 1 diabetes, alongside new arrangements for funded insulin pumps and consumables.

Since then, more than 16,000 people with type 1 diabetes have been prescribed funded CGMs.

“It really is a testament to all of the people with type 1 diabetes who saw these devices as life changing for their health care and were determined to work with Pharmac to see them funded,” Edwards says.

Life changing

For Georgie, having access to funded CGMs is ‘life changing’.

“Understanding how to monitor my blood sugars, knowing how certain foods affected me, and when, and how much insulin I should be using has changed my life. Once upon a time you didn’t know how you were going until you felt it. This is better.”

Source: PHARMAC

Information on what the Cancer Treatments Advisory Committee (CTAC) will be considering at its half-day meeting in May 2025.

Source: New Zealand Film Commission

The New Zealand Film Commission is offering up to 15 scholarships for industry practitioners who live in regional areas of Aotearoa, identify as deaf, disabled or neurodiverse (DDN), or identify as gender diverse to attend the 2025 Doc Edge Industry or Big Screen Symposium.  

Source: New Zealand Film Commission

The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) congratulates the outstanding achievements of the Māoriland Charitable Trust and Craig Gainsborough of Greenlit, recognised at the prestigious 2025 Global Production Awards, held in Cannes this week.

The New Zealand Film Commission (NZFC) congratulates the outstanding achievements of the Māoriland Charitable Trust and Craig Gainsborough of Greenlit, recognised at the prestigious 2025 Global Production Awards, held in Cannes this week.

Source: PHARMAC

Pharmac is proposing a change to the Pharmaceutical Schedule rules, which if agreed, would give New Zealanders with cancer greater continuity of care.  

Pharmac is consulting on a proposal to amend the rules of the Pharmaceutical Schedule, following the Government’s decision to enable access to new publicly funded cancer medicines in private hospitals and clinics from 1 August 2025.

“When Pharmac funds a new cancer medicine, there may be some people who have already started this treatment in a private health care facility. Currently, if this person wants their cancer medicine funded, they need to transition back into the public system during their treatment,” Director Strategy, Policy and Performance Michael Johnson says.

Johnson says that the rule change Pharmac is consulting on will enable public hospitals to supply medicines to eligible private facilities and claim a subsidy from Pharmac in the same way as they do for medicines delivered within a public hospital. 

Transitional access to new funded cancer medicines for patients receiving treatment in private facilities | Ministry of Health(external link)

If approved, from 1 August 2025, public hospitals would be able to supply newly funded cancer medicines (those where funding begins on or after 1 August 2025) to private facilities to administer to their patients, where either:

1. the person is already receiving treatment at the date that their medicine becomes funded by Pharmac, or
2. the person has an approved treatment plan, and is about to start treatment, at the date that the medicine becomes funded by Pharmac.

Funded medicine could be supplied to a private facility for the remainder of a person’s treatment course, for up to 12 months.

“Your input is valuable and helps us make better decisions. Let us know what you think by 6 June,” Johnson says.

Consultation on this proposal opens today and closes on 13 June. All feedback received before the closing date will be considered prior to making a decision on this proposal. Feedback can be emailed to consult@pharmac.govt.nz

Source: PHARMAC

Pharmac is proposing to fully fund two liquid nutrition replacements for adults with Crohn’s disease who use them as their only source of nutrition.

Crohn’s is a type of inflammatory bowel disease. Some people with Crohn’s disease may use liquid nutrition replacements as their exclusive, full diet for a period of 4–12 weeks. 

The goal of this exclusive liquid nutrition diet is to rest the gut, to reduce inflammation and promote healing. This also may help manage symptoms and reduce the likelihood of needing surgery.

The nutrition replacements in this proposal are Ensure Plus and Fortisip (200ml, 1.5kcal/ml). They are currently partly or fully funded for some health conditions in the community.

A different fully funded nutrition replacement was previously available for people using it exclusively, but the supplier has stopped making it.

Adrienne Martin, Pharmac’s Manager Pharmaceutical Funding says, “we’ve received advice from clinicians treating people with Crohn’s disease that Ensure Plus and Fortisip are suitable alternatives, but they’re only partly funded for some people with Crohn’s disease.”

Pharmac wants to remove this additional cost on Ensure Plus and Fortisip so people with Crohn’s disease, who use them as their only source of nutrition, can continue to access and benefit from nutrition replacements.

“Our role is to help people access the medicines and related products they need to improve their health. We estimate around 200 adults with Crohn’s disease would benefit from the funding each year.” says Martin.

People can provide feedback through Pharmac’s website until Thursday 4 June.

Following public consultation, Pharmac will make a decision on the funding proposal. If approved, these medicines are expected be fully funded from 1 July 2025.  

Source: PHARMAC

Pharmac will fund a new type of insulin for people with diabetes, branded as Ryzodeg, from 1 May 2025.

Pharmac’s Director Pharmaceuticals, Geraldine MacGibbon, expects about 13,000* people with diabetes will benefit from this insulin in the first year of funding, increasing to about 18,000 after five years.

“Ryzodeg is a combination of a long-acting and a rapid-acting insulin. It helps manage blood sugar levels throughout the day.

“We received feedback from people who would benefit from this decision. They shared with us how funding Ryzodeg would make living with diabetes easier, especially for people who have difficulty managing their insulin needs with the currently funded products.

“They also told us it would mean they could reduce the number of times they need to inject themselves with insulin,” MacGibbon says.

NovoMix 30, an older insulin product is being discontinued by the same supplier, Novo Nordisk, from the end of this year.

“The feedback we received from the community confirmed that Ryzodeg, will provide another option for people who currently use NovoMix 30,” says MacGibbon.

“We will continue to work with Diabetes New Zealand, the New Zealand Society for the Study of Diabetes (NZSSD), and the supplier to make sure that the community and health care professionals understand what funded insulin options are available for people with diabetes.

“We want to thank everyone who provided feedback during our public consultation on Ryzodeg. Your input is valuable to us and has an impact on the decisions we make.”

* Update May 2025: 

The number of people expected to benefit from this decision in the first year is about 12,000. The decision document is updated to reflect this.