Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

It is not us on this side of the House who are playing politics and it is not our motion before the chamber. It is their motion before the chamber, so they are the ones playing politics on this issue. That is the reality. Do not blame us for something that you are trying to play politics on.

The models in relation to funding for chemotherapy is actually quite a complex area of policy. There are arrangements, including the efficient funding of chemotherapy, which was put in place to ensure patients can continue to get access to vital cancer drugs at a price that is affordable for themselves and for the government. These arrangements were developed in parallel with the expanded and accelerated price disclosure measure and the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement.

In fact, in relation to the expanded and accelerated price disclosure measure, the coalition have had more positions than you could poke a stick at. At times, they have said that they support it; at other times, they have voted against it. Now the shadow minister comes to this chamber and says he now supports it. I would like to see some consistency from those opposite in relation to that measure.

There are no suggestions, by the way, from any stakeholders that the efficiencies generated for taxpayers by the EFC and the EAPD are inappropriate. The situation is that in late 2012, as a consequence of the expected impact of upcoming price reductions in a certain drug, known as Docetaxel, and another range of drugs in relation to chemotherapy, the industry raised some concerns in relation to the sustainability of chemotherapy infusion preparation services. There are about 100 dispensers, through pharmacists, of this particular drug and other chemotherapy drugs around the country. There are about 5,000 pharmacists in total and about 100 who do this particularly complex form of administration of a chemotherapy drug in terms of preparation. Without the cross-subsidy available from the high price that the government was paying for these drugs, stakeholders associated with this, including some of the pharmacists, actually said that services would shift from private to public hospitals and that there was a threat of services closing.

In fact what the Minister for Health did was act appropriately, and expeditiously requested that DoHA visit organisations, investigate the issue and listen to stakeholders. Senior members of staff from DoHA visited a number of chemotherapy suppliers and third-party chemotherapy compounders in private hospitals to discuss this issue. The matter came before the Senate Community Affairs Committee for inquiry and report. The shadow minister was selective in his quoting, so I will quote what the single recommendation of that committee said on 10 May 2013 at paragraph 3.41. It said:

The committee recommends that the government and industry parties, through the review, continue the examination of issues in chemotherapy drug pricing to ensure that existing funds under the Fifth Community Pharmacy Agreement as already agreed are appropriately directed to reflect the costs and benefits of the supply of chemotherapy drugs, and to ensure the ongoing supply of these drugs across all services, particularly in rural and regional areas.

In fact, on 5 May, the minister appropriately announced a review of funding arrangements for chemotherapy services. We are going to support this motion with amendments that reflect what the government are doing in announcing a review, which will operate until later this year. It will be undertaken independently with transparency and stakeholders will be consulted. We provided $29.7 million in the 2013-14 budget to pay providers an additional $60 for each chemotherapy infusion on an interim basis for a period of six months. That funding will cover the review period from 1 July 2013 until end December 2013 and will be provided in addition to the current $76.37.

I want to make it clear because if you listen to the shadow minister you would think that, somehow, there was absolute chaos in relation to this issue. Throughout this whole process the price paid by patients for chemotherapy drugs has not changed, and it will not change. The most paid for the drugs for a whole course of treatment is currently $5.90 for a concession patient or $36.10 for a general patient.

The review will be consumer focused and will provide opportunities for patients, stakeholders and providers who are involved in this industry to engage and provide suggestions on the future long-term approach. As I said, the review will be transparent and independent of government. The government want to identify and find a long-term solution in relation to this issue. It wants to make sure that cross-subsidisation is not required to support the viability of chemotherapy services across the country. We have undertaken this action because we want a long-term solution and long-term arrangements put in place. This government can be very proud of what we have done in relation to cancer treatment. We have provided 30 new drugs in relation to the PBS. We have provided and approved those drugs for 15 different cancers at an additional cost of $1.3 billion to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme since 2007.

We have also welcomed the policy of the accelerated and expanded price disclosure of items on the PBS. We have had a consistent position in relation to that, unlike those opposite. We are very proud of what we have done to improve cancer services across the country. In addition to the new PBS cancer treatments I have outlined, we have committed $3.5 billion since 2007 to improve the prevention, detection and treatment of cancer. This includes in the recent budget $226 million over four years to deliver the Gillard government's world-leading cancer care package. That involves cancer prevention, detection, support and research. Critically ill patients waiting for bone marrow transplants will have a better chance to get life-saving help through this initiative, with around 280 critically ill patients expected to be approved for the bone marrow transplant program in 2013-14.

This initiative also provides new funding for CanTeen, the Australian organisation for young people living with cancer, to support a national network of specialist services for 12- to 24-year-olds who are living with cancer, a group often felt to be left out in terms of cancer treatment, identification and publicity. We have also provided funding for the successful McGrath Foundation to continue to expand the foundation's Breast Care Nurses initiative, expanding the number of government funded nurses from the current 44 to 57. In addition, we have provided in this budget $55.7 million to expand the BreastScreen Australia Program, increasing participation by women aged 70 to 74, ensuring more women are tested for breast cancer as they get older, because we know the risk is higher as women age. We have also provided an additional $18.5 million for the Australian Prostate Cancer Research centre's program, including in my home state of Queensland an amount of $6.2 million at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane, about 40 or 50 kilometres down the road from where I live. This will mean improved testing, diagnosis and treatment for people with prostate cancer.

I outline some of these initiatives, including the initiatives that we have undertaken in the budget, the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program and additional help in relation to lung cancer, because I think it is necessary to put on the public record that we are really determined to make sure we deal with this issue. When we say we are involved in world-leading cancer care, we are making those investments, including in relation to breast, cervical, prostate and bowel cancer, to make sure we achieve an international benchmark. If you listened to the shadow minister in relation to this issue, you would think it is chaos, tragedy and despair. It is not. In fact, we are investing a massive amount of money to make sure this scourge, which affects every Australian family, is dealt with as best we can. Unlike those opposite, who want to close down Medicare Locals and strip funding to health services, as their state colleagues in Queensland and Victoria have done, we are determined to make sure that our health services, including breast cancer treatment and prostate cancer treatment, are rolled out in such a way that Australian people, whether they live in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria or any other state or territory, can get the help they want. We are investing for the future in terms of health services, while those opposite will cut, cut and cut.

See this speech in context