Right now, hundreds of Australian women with HER-2 positive breast cancer are stuck in limbo, denied affordable access to a life-extending drug, Tucatinib.
Tucatinib has been approved for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) by our own government, and is easily available for women in other countries. Despite the urgency, negotiations between Pfizer and the Australian Government have stalled, denying Australian women affordable access, and they're running out of time.
It’s a trend we’re seeing more often with other drugs and health concerns: delay tactics from big pharmaceutical companies and lack of leadership from the Australian Government. All the while, it’s the patients who suffer.
We won’t stop fighting for these women to live a better quality of life and have more time with their families while they still can.
Vicki Durston, BCNA’s Director of Policy, Advocacy and Support Services, explains how our system is failing women with metastatic breast cancer and that we must address the growing threat to medicine access caused by big pharma stalemates.
Read more about this and how it affects Australians like Georgie Cooper, 46 years old with 3 teenagers living in Melbourne who has been navigating metastatic breast cancer for eight years.
Published 4 months ago
Version 1.0
