Kay Patterson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Ageing, Senator Santoro, in his capacity as Minister representing the Minister for Health and Ageing. I ask the minister: would he advise the Senate of measures the government is taking to protect Australian women from cervical cancer?

Santo Santoro (Queensland, Liberal Party, Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Patterson for her question and also for her strong advocacy of women’s health issues in the broader community. Having recently listed Herceptin for breast cancer on the PBS at a cost of $470 million, I am now pleased to inform the Senate that the Howard government has today decided to fund the cervical cancer vaccine, Gardasil, for girls and women aged 12 to 26 from 2007. The expected cost of the vaccine is $433 million between 2006-07 and 2009-10. Gardasil will be put on the National Immunisation Program on an ongoing basis for 12- to 13-year-old girls and will be delivered through schools. The government will also fund a two-year catch-up program for 13- to 18-year-old girls in schools and 18- to 26-year-old woman to be delivered through GPs.

The initial submission from the vaccine’s maker, CSL, was considered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee in early November. At that time the PBAC was unable to recommend funding of Gardasil due to concerns about its cost effectiveness. Given the possibility of introducing an immunisation program through schools in 2007, the minister for health asked the PBAC to consider a revised submission from CSL in an extraordinary meeting. The government would like to thank the PBAC for agreeing to this unusual request.

I am able to inform the Senate that CSL agreed to reduce the price of Gardasil and provide the PBAC with additional information about its long-term effectiveness. CSL has undertaken to make a substantial contribution to any booster program that becomes necessary in the next 20 years and to the cost of setting up a national register to link vaccination data to the latest cervical screening records. The PBAC found that Gardasil is cost-effective at the new price offered. I think that is welcome news for everybody.

All of the usual PBAC processes have been undertaken in the consideration of the revised submission for Gardasil. The accelerated time frame for consideration has not compromised in any way whatsoever the quality of the decision-making process, and the drug was proven to be effective. We believe that it was very important for the government to adhere to the PBAC process to ensure that taxpayers got the very best savings and, indeed, that the drug was to be effective. As the shadow minister for health herself has said about the primacy of the PBAC’s role:

You want experts to look at drugs. You do not want politicians going, ‘I’ll pick that one and not that one.’

That is what Julia Gillard said on 9 am with David and Kim on 3 February this year. The Commonwealth government is now calling on the state and territory governments to implement a school based immunisation program in 2007. We will also work with doctors groups to establish processes for vaccination for eligible women who are no longer at school. This is an excellent outcome for Australian women and I am delighted that this government has been able to make such an important announcement today.