National age and ethnicity dispensing data for emtricitabine with tenofovir disoproxil (PrEP)

OIA response

27 May 2021 

Dear [name and contact details withheld]

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

Thank you for your request dated 29 April 2021 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA) for information relating to emtricitabine with tenofovir disoproxil (pre-exposure prophylaxis, also known as PrEP).

You requested, for ‘emtricitabine with tenofovir disoproxil only’:

  • Age breakdown for calendar year 2019 and 2020
    • Age breakdown for calendar year 2019 and 2020 for DHBs - Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waitemata. If this data can easily be provided for all DHBs that would be great but if not please provide for Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waitemata in the first instance.
  • Ethnicity breakdown for calendar year 2019 and 2020
    • Ethnicity breakdown for calendar year 2019 and 2020 for DHBs - Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waitemata. If this data can easily be provided for all DHBs that would be great but if not please provide for Auckland, Counties Manukau and Waitemata in the first instance.
  • The monthly breakdown of people dispensed ‘emtricitabine with tenofovir disoproxil only’ (PrEP) when having a prescription filled – nationally and by DHB for the calendar years 2019 and 2020.

Please find dispensing data as requested attached with this response.

Please note that PHARMAC approaches its assessment of requests for information under the OIA on the basis that, once released, the information becomes publicly available - in other words 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). 

We have made some adjustments to the data provided where patient totals are equal to or less than 10 (displayed as ≤10) as we consider this is necessary to protect the privacy of those patients (section 9(2)(a)). 

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. 

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