Decision to make changes to funded 60 mm and 56 mm (0.05 mm thickness) male latex condoms

Any changes to the original proposal?

There are no changes to the original proposal. We want to thank everyone who provided all their thoughtful feedback to this consultation, which has fed into this decision.

This decision was subject to a consultation letter dated 8 April 2019

Who we think will be most interested

• People who access funded condoms.
• The New Zealand AIDS Foundation.
• Family Planning Clinics.
• New Zealand Prostitutes Collective Trust.
• OneLink and other organisations that access and distribute funded condoms.
• Clinicians and community pharmacists who prescribe and dispense funded condoms.
• Suppliers and wholesalers of condoms.

Detail about this decision

The following table shows the brands and pack sizes of 60 mm nominal width and 56 mm nominal width (0.05 mm thickness) male latex condoms that will be funded and listed in Section B of the Pharmaceutical Schedule over the coming months.

* condom is currently listed in Section B of the Pharmaceutical Schedule

• The Shield XL and Gold Knight XL brands of 60 mm nominal width condoms will be awarded Sole Subsidised Supply status from 1 June 2020 until 30 September 2022. Both brands will have Sole Subsidised Supply status at different times during this period. Further detail is provided in the table above and the ‘Transition’ section below.
• From 1 June 2020 the price of the currently funded Shield XL brand of 60 mm nominal width male latex condoms will increase as follows:

• The Shield XL brand of 60 mm nominal width male latex condoms will continue to be funded while existing stocks last and, will be delisted from the Pharmaceutical Schedule at a date to be determined after 1 October 2020 once remaining stocks are exhausted.
• From 1 October 2020 the Gold Knight XL brand of 60 mm nominal width male latex condoms will be awarded Sole Subsidised Supply status and will be listed in Section B of the Pharmaceutical Schedule as follows:

• From 1 October 2020 the maximum number of funded 60 mm nominal width condoms that can be prescribed and available via a Practitioner’s Supply Order (PSO) for all brands of 60 mm nominal width male latex condoms will be reduced from 144 to 60 condoms to reduce condom wastage. Bulk Supply Organisations will be unaffected by this change and will continue to be able to access 60 mm condoms in pack sizes of 144 condoms.
• From 1 October 2020 bulk packs of Gold Knight brand 56 mm nominal width, 0.05 mm male latex condoms will be listed alongside the currently funded dispensing packs as follows:

• The Gold Knight brand of 56 mm nominal width, 0.05 mm male latex condoms was previously awarded Sole Subsidised Supply status for 56 mm nominal width, 0.05 mm male latex condoms until 30 September 2022. These arrangements will be unchanged by the listing of this additional 144 condom bulk pack.

60 mm condoms transition

• The Shield XL and Gold Knight XL brands of 60 mm are both supplied by Jackson Allison and are produced by the same manufacturer.
• From 1 October 2020 the Gold Knight XL and Shield XL brands of 60 mm nominal width male latex condoms will both be listed in Section B of the Pharmaceutical Schedule and will have Sole Subsidised Supply status for 60 mm nominal width male latex condoms until the Shield XL brand of 60mm nominal width male latex condoms is delisted from Section B of the Pharmaceutical Schedule at a date to be determined after 1 October 2020. During this time, all patients currently accessing the Shield XL brand of 60 mm male latex condoms will need to change to the Gold Knight XL brand.
• Advance notice of the date for Shield XL 60 mm nominal width condoms to be delisted from the Pharmaceutical Schedule will be provided to prescribers, wholesalers, community pharmacies, and other interested parties. Sufficient notice of the delisting date will be provided to allow patients to be transitioned from the Shield XL to the Gold Knight XL brand of 60 mm nominal width condoms.
• After the Shield XL brand is delisted from the Pharmaceutical Schedule the Gold Knight XL brand will remain as the only funded brand of 60 mm nominal width condoms listed in the Section B of the Pharmaceutical Schedule and will have Sole Subsidised Supply status for 60 mm male latex condoms until 30 September 2022.

Our response to what you told us

We’re really grateful for the time people took to respond to this consultation. A summary of the main themes raised in feedback and our responses to the feedback received are set out below: 

If you have any questions about this decision, you can email us at enquiry@pharmac.govt.nz; or call our toll free number (9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday) on 0800 660 050.