Information on Puberty blocker data

Thank you for your request dated 17 January 2024 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) for information relating to puberty blockers. You requested:

1) How many boys and how many girls were on puberty blockers in 2000?

2) How many boys and how many girls were on puberty blockers in 2023?

3) In your data base, which containing this information, what do you mean by girl and what do you mean by boy. Is a girl in the data base a sis gender girl or a boy transitioning to a girl?

The reason for question 3 is that Parmac, who will end up answering this question, do not know the answer as the MoH enters the data.

For ease of reference, I will address each question separately. For your awareness the information held by Pharmac is primarily medicine dispensing data, which is cross referenced with individuals National Health Index (NHI) number.

• How many boys and how many girls were on puberty blockers in 2000?

I am unable to provide the requested information as NHI numbers on dispensing’s were only required from 2006. As such I am declining this part of your request under section 18(e), no documents exist.

2) How many boys and how many girls were on puberty blockers in 2023?

We are providing you with the number of patients dispensed the chemicals Goserelin or Leuprorelin for calendar year 2023, by gender category.

• This data was extracted as held by Pharmac on 23/02/2024.
• Each patient is unique in a calendar year
• The age taken into account is from 0 to 17 and is defined as the age when the patient picked up the dispensing
• The data is extracted for identifiable patients only
• Gender reflects gender identity (relates to an individual’s experience of their own gender). NHI does not capture sex (‘assigned at birth’ or ‘natal sex’)

3) In your data base, which containing this information, what do you mean by girl and what do you mean by boy. Is a girl in the data base a sis gender girl or a boy transitioning to a girl?

The reason for question 3 is that Parmac, who will end up answering this question, do not know the answer as the MoH enters the data.\

Currently the NHI does not capture sex (‘assigned at birth’ or ‘natal sex’), instead it only captures gender (‘gender identity’, relates to an individual’s experience of their own gender). This can be updated by an individual by asking their regular health professional to update the National Health Index (“NHI”) with this information.

If you would like more information on this please contact Te Whatu Ora as they are responsible for NHI records.(external link)

In making our decision, we have considered the public interest considerations in section 9(1) of the Act. No public interest has been identified that would be sufficient to override the reasons for withholding that information.

Please note, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman about our response to your OIA, under section 28(3) of the OIA. Details of how to make a complaint(external link) are on the Ombudsman’s website.

To make information more freely available, we publish selected OIA responses (excluding personal details) on our website. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about this.