People approved access to adalimumab or infliximab for the treatment of IBD

20 October 2021 

Dear [name and contact details withheld] 

Request for information 

Thank you for your request dated 22 September 2021 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) for information relating to the number of people in NZ with IBD who are currently taking adalimumab or infliximab for IBD. You asked: 

Do you have any idea how many patients in NZ with IBD are currently on adalimumab and infliximab?

Please find data for your request attached with this letter.

Please note that we approach our assessment of requests for information under the OIA on the basis that once we release the information to you it becomes available to any other party in that exact form (whether by you distributing it to others or by virtue of us receiving the same request from a different third party). 

Where 10 or fewer people are counted, we have changed the number to "≤10" as we believe this is necessary to protect the privacy of these people (section 9(2)(a) of the OIA). 

As required under the OIA, we also considered whether, in the circumstances, the withholding of this information was outweighed by other considerations which render it desirable, in the public interest, to make this information available.  In this case we did not consider that the public interest outweighed the reasons for withholding the information. 

Please note you have the right, by way of complaint under section 28(3) of the OIA to an Ombudsman, to seek an investigation and review of our decision.

We trust that this information answers your queries. We are making our information more freely available, so we now publish selected OIA responses (excluding personal details) on our website. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this. 

Yours sincerely 

Rachel Read
Manager, Policy and Government Services