{"id":55313,"date":"2025-10-02T00:59:04","date_gmt":"2025-10-02T00:59:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/55313\/"},"modified":"2025-10-02T00:59:04","modified_gmt":"2025-10-02T00:59:04","slug":"pharmac-proposes-changes-to-make-it-easier-to-access-hiv-medicines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/55313\/","title":{"rendered":"Pharmac Proposes Changes To Make It Easier To Access HIV Medicines"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>           Thursday,  2 October 2025, 11:22 am<br \/>Press Release: <a href=\"https:\/\/info.scoop.co.nz\/PHARMAC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PHARMAC<\/a><\/p>\n<p>New Zealanders living with, or at risk of, HIV could soon<br \/>\nbenefit from proposed changes to how HIV medicines are<br \/>\nfunded and supplied.<\/p>\n<p>Pharmac is consulting on a<br \/>\nproposal to remove Special Authority and Hospital Indication<br \/>\ncriteria for all funded antiretroviral medicines for HIV. If<br \/>\napproved, from 1 December 2025, people would no longer need<br \/>\nto meet these criteria to access funded HIV<br \/>\nmedicines.<\/p>\n<p>The proposal also includes practical<br \/>\nimprovements to how HIV medicines are dispensed. All HIV<br \/>\nmedicines could be dispensed in three-month amounts, rather<br \/>\nthan monthly, making it easier for people to manage their<br \/>\ntreatment and reduce pharmacy visits.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally,<br \/>\ntwo HIV medicines &#8211; emtricitabine with tenofovir disoproxil<br \/>\nand dolutegravir &#8211; would be made available on a<br \/>\nPractitioner\u2019s Supply Order (PSO) for Post Exposure<br \/>\nProphylaxis (PEP). This would allow prescribers to keep<br \/>\nthese medicines in their clinics for urgent<br \/>\nuse.<\/p>\n<p>Pharmac\u2019s Manager Pharmaceutical Funding,<br \/>\nClaire Pouwels, says the proposed changes are expected to<br \/>\nreduce barriers and improve access to treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf<br \/>\nsuccessful, these changes will support more equitable health<br \/>\noutcomes for New Zealanders living with or at risk of<br \/>\nHIV,\u201d says Pouwels.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know that timely access to<br \/>\nHIV medicines can be life changing. By making these<br \/>\ntreatments more convenient and available, we\u2019re hoping to<br \/>\nsupport people to stay well.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ve listened to<br \/>\nfeedback from clinicians, pharmacists, and advocacy groups<br \/>\nwho have told us that current funding criteria can delay<br \/>\nurgent treatment, especially for Post-Exposure Prophylaxis<br \/>\n(PEP). These changes will make a real difference for our<br \/>\ncommunities, ensuring people can get the medicines they<br \/>\nneed, when they need them,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement &#8211; scroll to continue reading<\/p>\n<p>Pharmac is<br \/>\nseeking feedback from clinicians, advocacy groups, and the<br \/>\npublic. Consultation is open until 4pm, Monday 20 October<br \/>\n2025. Feedback can be submitted through the online<br \/>\nform or emailed to consult@pharmac.govt.nz.<\/p>\n<p>All<br \/>\nfeedback will be considered before a final decision is<br \/>\nmade.<\/p>\n<p>Proposal<br \/>\nto change the funding criteria for HIV medicines:<br \/>\nhttps:\/\/www.pharmac.govt.nz\/news-and-resources\/consultations-and-decisions\/2025-10-proposal-to-change-the-funding-criteria-for-hiv-medicines<\/p>\n<p>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.scoop.co.nz\/about\/terms.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">\u00a9 Scoop Media<\/a>\n         <\/p>\n<p>Find more from <a href=\"https:\/\/info.scoop.co.nz\/PHARMAC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">PHARMAC<\/a> on InfoPages.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Thursday, 2 October 2025, 11:22 amPress Release: PHARMAC New Zealanders living with, or at risk of, HIV could&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":35750,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[134,7057,46648,3274,3523,111,24636,139,69,19953,46649,147,11112],"class_list":["post-55313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-healthcare-industry","tag-hiv-medicines","tag-hospitals","tag-medical","tag-new-zealand","tag-newsworthy","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-pharmac","tag-post-exposure-prophylaxis","tag-science","tag-scoop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=55313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}