Male sex change hormones data

28 November 2019

[name and contact details redacted]

Dear [name redacted]

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Thank you for your request dated 1 November 2019 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA).  You asked for data on:

biological males that are being prescribed:

• oestrogen,
• progesterones,
• GnRH Agonists (ie Lupron),
• anti-androgens (spironolactone, bicalumide, flutamide, finasteride).

Broken by type, age, financial year.

The requested data is provided on the following page. Please note that this is for medicines dispensed, as data on the number of prescriptions written is not collected.

PHARMAC has used <10 to denote where patient numbers are in single figures. This is an approach that PHARMAC generally takes across data requests to protect patient privacy in cases where patients may be able to be identified.  In the particular circumstances of your request, where the numbers are less than 10, this data will not be provided, because we consider this is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons (section 9(2)(a)) given the sensitive nature of the data requested and the patient population to which the data relates.

As required under the OIA, we 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 will 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

Alison Hill
Director, Engagement and Implementation