Pharmac Launches New Consumer Working Group to Improve Patient Engagement

In a landmark move to foster greater collaboration with health consumers, New Zealand’s Associate Health Minister David Seymour has welcomed the formation of Pharmac’s new consumer working group. This initiative aims to reform how Pharmac — the country’s pharmaceutical funding agency — engages with patients and their advocates, ensuring that lived experiences and community voices play a more central role in decision-making.

Resetting the Pharmac-Patient Relationship

“For many New Zealanders, funding for pharmaceuticals is life or death, or the difference between a life of pain and suffering or living freely,” said Minister Seymour. He emphasized that the formation of this working group fulfills a key commitment in the ACT-National coalition agreement — to ensure robust processes that include patients, carers, and families in policy and funding deliberations.

The initiative follows Pharmac’s Consumer Engagement Workshop held in March, which brought together patients, advocacy groups, and experts to discuss expectations for resetting the agency’s approach to patient relations. A publicly released report from the workshop proposed the formation of a new working group to serve as a conduit between Pharmac’s leadership and the consumer-patient community.

Dr Malcolm Mulholland to Lead the Group

Dr Malcolm Mulholland MNZM, a prominent health advocate and member of Patient Voice Aotearoa, was selected to chair the new group. Working with a broad network of patient organizations, he has helped identify a diverse panel of members who represent a wide range of health conditions, from cancer and epilepsy to rare disorders and chronic diseases.

“We’ve waited a long time for this opportunity,” said Dr Mulholland. “The work that Pharmac does is vitally important for the health of patients and their families, and this is why getting Pharmac to work as well as it can will be the focus of the working group.”

The working group convened for its inaugural meeting on Monday, where it finalized its strategic approach and outlined initial actions for reforming consumer engagement.

Broader Government Commitment to Medicine Access

Minister Seymour highlighted that this working group is not an isolated initiative but part of a broader effort to modernize New Zealand’s pharmaceutical funding landscape. He pointed to a series of policy developments including his formal letters of expectation to Pharmac, last year’s Medicines Summit, and the government's endorsement of Patient Voice Aotearoa’s White Paper.

“The working group reflects our commitment to a more adaptable and patient-centred approach,” said Seymour. “I’m pleased to see the Board take the opportunity to continue to prioritise expanding access for patients and their families by broadening access to more medicines for more groups.”

He also stressed the financial support backing this transformation. In the latest budget, the government allocated a record $6.294 billion to Pharmac over four years, along with a $604 million funding boost. These resources are intended to enable the agency to negotiate better deals and expand its portfolio of subsidized medicines.

Members of the Consumer Working Group

The newly appointed members of Pharmac’s Consumer Working Group are:

• Dr Malcolm Mulholland MNZM – Patient Voice Aotearoa (Chair)

• Libby Burgess MNZM – Breast Cancer Aotearoa Coalition

• Tim Edmonds – Leukaemia and Blood Cancer NZ

• Chris Higgins – Rare Disorders NZ

• Francesca Holloway – Arthritis NZ

• Trent Lash – Heartbeats Charitable Trust

• Gerard Rushton – The Meningitis Foundation

• Rachel Smalley MNZM – The Medicine Gap

• Tracy Tierney – Epilepsy NZ

• Deon York – Haemophilia NZ

This broad representation is designed to ensure the voices of patients with diverse health conditions are heard and considered in policy and funding decisions that affect their lives.

Looking Ahead

The newly formed working group is expected to report regularly on its progress and contribute to reshaping Pharmac into a more transparent, patient-inclusive agency. With this step, the government signals a meaningful shift toward health policy that values and incorporates the perspectives of those directly impacted by its decisions.