David Fawcett (Wakefield, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Would the minister advise the House of the government’s decision to list Lucentis on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme? How will this listing help people at risk of going blind from macular degeneration?

Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wakefield for his question. I appreciate just how concerned he is about this issue and I am grateful for the representations he has made to me on this topic. Macular degeneration is the principal cause of blindness in this country. It affects about 130,000 Australians and every year about 17,000 new patients are diagnosed with what is called wet age-related macular degeneration. But now there is hope for these people. A new drug, Lucentis, can arrest and, in some cases, even reverse the progress of this disease in about 80 per cent of patients. Last week the government announced that Lucentis would be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from 1 August. This will cost $630 million over the forward estimates period, but it is worth it because it enables these people to continue to lead fully active lives and to remain fully involved members of the community—people like Bill Milton, of Two Wells in the electorate of Wakefield, who has already explained to his local member just how beneficial this drug has been to him. Of course, being an outstanding local member, the member for Wakefield has passed that on to me.

I would like to thank the officials of the Therapeutic Goods Administration and of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee for the expeditious way in which this matter has been handled. But I do say to everyone who has welcomed this listing that the government can only afford to put new drugs like this on the PBS because we have a strong economy. The listing of drugs like Lucentis is the social dividend of a strong economy. I say this in conclusion: if you cannot trust people to run the economy, you certainly cannot trust them to run a health system either.