Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Backing the Bay and Beyond

Craig Foss, MP for Tukituki, has collected 800 signatures from Central Hawkes Bay Constituents to push the Government to fund Herceptin.

Foss states that he finds its "appalling to hear of women and their families having to raise mortagges and sell their homes to fund their treatment".

In New Zealand women with breast cancer are funded for nine weeks of Herceptin treatment whilst in 23 other OECD countries 12 months are funded, which is the international recommended best standard of care.

If you live in Hawkes Bay then head along to Craig's electorate office on the corner of King and Queen Street (behind countdown, opposite Hector Jones) and sign the petition. The petition will be presented to the Government by Dr Jackie Blue, a National MP and former breast surgeon.

2 comments:

Rich said...

And you *know* that it's more effective to spend money on a new drug then better primary care in disadvantaged areas, for instance?

Roche, the makers of Herceptin, are spending millions on promoting this drug through astroturfing (fake grassrooots organisations) and other underhand PR campaigns. See this, for instance.

Roy Andrews said...

First time reading this blog thanks for sharing