Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Health. Will the minister outline to the House how the Morrison government's stable and certain economic management enables life-saving medicines to be available on the PBS, including medicines which help improve the lives of children suffering from cystic fibrosis? Is the minister aware of any alternatives to this approach?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Boothby, who, amongst many causes, has been a great voice for women with endometriosis, along with the member for Forrest and the former member for Canberra, Gai Brodtmann. In addition to her advocacy on that front, prior to coming to this place she worked with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and understood, through her work there, and advocated for the importance of a stable, balanced approach to the economy. One of the reasons why, of course, is that she witnessed, in 2011, the then government unable to fund critical medicines for conditions such as endometriosis and IVF treatment. Fortunately, however, we are in a very different place today, a place where over 2,200 new or amended medicines have been listed under this government, including on the weekend the announcement that new medicines for cystic fibrosis will be listed. In particular, ORKAMBI will now be extended to children between the ages of two and five—beautiful young children—and for the first time SYMDECO will be made available for children aged from 12 years up and adults.

Why is this important? These new medicines are life extending, life improving, life saving and would otherwise cost $250,000 a year. They would be beyond the reach of virtually every Australian family. It is expected that these medicines, which will be available on the PBS from 1 December, will help over 1,400 patients. Instead of $250,000, they will now be available for $6.50 or $40.30.

Significantly, we've managed to negotiate immediate compassionate access for free from today. That's immensely important for these young people—immensely important for children such as Xavier, who I met yesterday. He is five years old. Last night, I received an email from Dr Sonia Marshall. To the best of my knowledge, I've not previously met Sonia. She said: 'Dear Greg, what fantastic news you delivered this morning about SYMDECO and ORKAMBI. There are lots of tears of joy in our house this morning. There are no words adequate enough to thank the Australian government for the role they are playing in changing the future for those with cystic fibrosis. My almost 14-year-old daughter has been taking ORKAMBI for 13 months. It has completely changed her life. It's changed our lives beyond recognition. Before ORKAMBI, Evie would spend 13 hours a day doing CF treatments. After ORKAMBI, it takes only 45 minutes a day.'

That is why a strong budget matters and that is why a strong heart matters, and why a strong PBS is essential.

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.