Posted by Michael Wonder on 17 Jun 2020
New Zealand's slow medicine uptake leads to 800 diabetes deaths each year
17 June 2020 - The Diabetes Foundation Aotearoa has estimated in a submission to PHARMAC last month that New Zealand’s long delayed adoption of modern diabetes medicines is leading to the death of about 800 people each year.
This shocking estimate comes on the heels of a report that found New Zealand is in last place out of 20 comparable OECD countries for access to modern medicines.
Chairperson of the Foundation, clinician John Baker, says New Zealand’s three stage formula for medical treatment of diabetes hasn’t changed for twenty years, and is now only used by third world countries.
