John Alexander (Bennelong, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to applaud the significant impact being made in the treatment of HIV-AIDS in Papua New Guinea through a collaboration of six pharmaceutical companies, four of which are based in my electorate of Bennelong. It is estimated that one in every 50 adults in PNG is HIV positive, giving it the highest incidence of this disease in the Pacific region. In 2001, a group of like-minded pharmaceutical companies created an informal consortium to address this issue called the Collaboration for Health in Papua New Guinea or CHPNG. This consortium has had a huge impact on the lives of people across Papua New Guinea, supporting clinics in eight provinces and treating over 2,700 registered patients. Through the training of local healthcare professionals, they provide crucial support to improve the care given to patients living with HIV-AIDS and also work to reduce the stigma surrounding the disease through positive advocacy in the community. The companies that are behind this collaboration are Boehringer Ingelheim, Gilead, Janssen, Merck Sharp and Dohme, and Pfizer, together with ViiV Healthcare.

The CHPNG is a great example of the importance that many of our large pharmaceutical companies place on their roles as corporate citizens to help make a difference to the lives of patients in developing nations. Domestically, this industry has been under exceptional pressure with the Gillard government's decision to defer PBS listing of medicines that had already received approval by the expert body, the PBAC. This unprecedented step has led to great uncertainty and was taken despite the fact that the industry had made significant concessions in last year's memorandum of understanding with the government in return for a commitment to a stable regulatory environment. This stability is essential for a company that can spend over $1 billion in research, testing and clinical trials before getting a new medicine to market and which then has a limited time before generic companies can start mass-producing the same drug in foreign countries at a fraction of the price.

In order to promote discussion of these matters with policymakers, I am in the process of forming the parliamentary friends of medicines group, which all MPs are welcome to join. In the meantime, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of the CHPNG, a parliamentary breakfast is being held this Thursday from 7 am in the Reps alcove. I invite all MPs to drop in, have some breakfast and hear about the great work of the Collaboration for Health in Papua New Guinea in its fight against HIV-AIDS in Papua New Guinea.