![\"Rachel](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/b9e5ee44ce9d92231e3edef81090c822a65c3a59574d029dc1c30795edd0f6b8.png\")
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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n Warning: graphic content<\/p>\n Most parents bring spare nappies and snacks on a day trip. Rebecca Cookson used to pack a full change of clothes in case her son was covered in blood by the time they arrived.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was constantly scratching \u2013 it consumed him,\u201d Cookson said of her son Aaron\u2019s severe eczema. \u201cPeople don\u2019t understand how debilitating it actually is.\u201d<\/p>\n Aaron was hospitalised 10 times before he turned five, needed regular bleach baths and was on a suite of medication. After he had three fingertips removed due to the condition, a dermatologist recommended dupilumab, a life-changing treatment for severe eczema that the family couldn\u2019t access.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt like everything just drained out of me,\u201d Cookson said. \u201cI was like, I know [about dupilumab], but we can\u2019t have it because he\u2019s not 12. I almost felt like she was taunting me.\u201d<\/p>\n Also known by its brand name, Dupixent, the injection has been available through the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for the treatment of severe eczema in Australians aged over 12 since 2021 and costs eligible patients $25 a month.<\/p>\n Younger children do not have funded access to the medicine, which costs about $20,000 a year without a PBS subsidy. This is despite the medicine previously being recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee for children aged six to 11 years in March 2022.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing said Dupixent\u2019s pharmaceutical company, Sanofi, \u201chas not provided the required documentation for the PBS listing to progress\u201d.<\/p>\n On Wednesday, the PBAC will consider an updated proposal outlining the benefits of a subsidy for younger children, this time from six months to 12 years, at the request of Sanofi.<\/p>\n \u201cThe government is committed to listing every medicine that is recommended by the PBAC where the pharmaceutical company agrees to the terms of listing,\u201d the department said in a statement. Sanofi did not respond to this masthead\u2019s inquiries.<\/p>\n Eczema Support Australia managing director Melanie Funk said the delay has had a profound impact.<\/p>\n \u201cFamilies of these children have effectively had to wait four years for a recommendation that\u2019s already been made,\u201d she said. \u201cOur frustration is that children only get one childhood \u2013 they can\u2019t put their disease on hold while the negotiations continue.\u201d<\/p>\n Funk said that thousands of children are affected by severe eczema, which is \u201ccompletely different\u201d to mild eczema: \u201cChildren can have relentless itch, bleeding skin, repeated infection, sleep deprivation, hospital admissions, and it really significantly impacts their mental health and development as well. It\u2019s a very serious chronic inflammatory disease.\u201d<\/p>\n Hospitalisations due to severe eczema are \u201cvery costly\u201d to the health system, she said.<\/p>\n Dermatologist Dr Stephen Shumack said clinicians had already noted a reduction in hospital admissions among the age groups eligible for the dupilumab subsidy.<\/p>\n He said that published research<\/a> on the drug found it was \u201cabsolutely effective\u201d in young children, with results \u201csubstantially life-changing in that age group\u201d.<\/p>\n When Aaron, now eight, was offered compassionate access through The Children\u2019s Hospital at Westmead, \u201cit gave him his life back\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI bought him shorts for the first time \u2013 he\u2019d never worn shorts until he was five,\u201d his mother said. \u201cHe can go swimming now \u2013 he can do things that other kids can do. It\u2019s been life-changing.\u201d<\/p>\n Six-year-old Ally North, of Kerang, near the border of NSW and Victoria, has not been able to secure compassionate access.<\/p>\n Her mum, Melanie, said Ally had never slept through the night as she itched in her sleep until she bled: \u201cIt looks like a murder scene some mornings.\u201d<\/p>\n The year 1 pupil has missed weeks of school this year due to eczema flare-ups and complications. Her teachers have raised concerns that she will soon fall behind, and her mother said that staying home with her daughter is difficult as she and her husband both run businesses.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019ll come home from school and say, \u2018why is my skin like this? Why can\u2019t I have normal skin? Why am I the only one?\u2019 And it breaks your heart,\u201d North said.<\/p>\n![\"Marsden](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/cafc85e38ece56ee7cffee3c2d7f2dbe178bfead.jpeg\")
Marsden Park resident Rebecca Cookson with her son, Aaron Comer.Sitthixay Ditthavong<\/p>\n![\"Aaron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/f89783b200e1e62e7ff3f1d2b1b1a5cdf5e46a8f.jpeg\")
Aaron was hospitalised 10 times before he turned five.<\/p>\n![\"Aaron](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/778144fefd119f48f0c14fd32fc9e61b51212162.jpeg\")
Aaron Comer\u2019s eczema \u201cconsumed him\u201d. <\/p>\n![\"Ally](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/06ce4d40326d9e3f6c8ad9df0b3a5501b4d368b6.jpeg\")
Ally North has not been able to secure compassionate access to dupilumab. <\/p>\n
![\"Keira](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/20e3ac10959579193db4a9baef041a117894e23c.jpeg\")
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