Strategic management of the CPB to support Pharmac’s vision
The Combined Pharmaceutical Budget (CPB) is managed by Pharmac and is used to pay for medicines, medical devices, vaccines, and other health products used by millions of New Zealanders every year.
Strategic management of the CPB is one of the key strategic priority areas that Pharmac has identified as being critical to achieving its goal of improved health outcomes and health equity.
“Fundamentally, what we’re trying to achieve is a more deliberate way of directing our investment funds,” says Geraldine MacGibbon, Director, Pharmaceuticals. “This comes from wanting to achieve better health outcomes for all New Zealanders and recognizing that there has been historical and current-day inequities between population groups – and those must be meaningfully addressed to achieve better outcomes for all.”
“Strategic management of the CPB also includes thinking about where and how people are accessing funded medicines, vaccines, and medical devices – including through general practice, pharmacies, hospitals, and all other places where people receive health care – and making sure any barriers to accessing funded treatments are minimized.”
“Under the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi, we have a duty to make sure that the health needs of Māori are being met. We believe that placing a greater strategic focus on our obligations under Te Tiriti, including through implementation of Pharmac’s Te Tiriti policy, will lift equity for many New Zealanders who are not currently experiencing equitable health outcomes.”
This year we have:
- Responded to emergencies by applying special Pharmaceutical Schedule rules so that pharmacies could be flexible and New Zealanders could access the medicines and devices they needed.
- Signed an MOU with Health New Zealand relating to data collection, so that we can use data and non-commercially sensitive information to understand people’s needs and deliver better health outcomes.
- Focused on improving access to vaccines in the community by working with Health New Zealand to boost the number of health providers who can give funded vaccines by enabling authorized pharmacists to deliver many funded vaccines.
- Evolved our approach to COVID-19 vaccines and treatments by widening access to COVID-19 antivirals and publishing a call for funding applications for COVID-19 vaccines.