Australian drugmakers plea for PBS funding

Drug industry trade body Medicines Australia has urged the government not to reduce funding for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme in the 2009 federal budget. Its chairman, Will Delaat, said such a move would result in higher costs elsewhere in the healthcare system.

Mr Delaat said any cut to PBS spending would impact negatively on patient health outcomes. He said reducing this as a short-term cost-saving measure would be a false economy. "To quote the Minister for Health and Aging, Nicola Roxon, 'the point we often miss with the PBS is that we are saving money by often spending money on medications'," he said. "The PBS delivers those savings because innovative medicines can prevent the need for care at public hospitals, shorten stays in hospitals where they are required and relieve the costs of other institutional care. In short, appropriately used, medicines help people stay out of hospitals and lead longer, better, more productive lives," he noted.

Mr Delaat also pointed to PBS reforms introduced last year, through which the pharmaceutical industry will contribute A$580.0 million ($383.8million) in savings to the government over the next four years, and A$3.0 billion over the next 10 years.