Drugs to treat heart failure urgently need funding
The Cardiac Society is urging Pharmac to fully fund two newer medications, SGLT2 inhibitors and PCSK9 inhibitors, that are very effective in treating people with heart failure to live longer better lives.
Listen to NZ Cardiac Society Chair Dr Martin Stiles on Newstalk ZB on 8 July; he says that cardiovascular disease remains the number one killer of New Zealanders but many people cannot afford to self-fund the newer medications compounding the existing societal inequities that our poorer patients face.
In another interview on 8 July on Radio New Zealand’s Checkpoint programme, cardiologist Dr Sarah Fairley explains the benefits of funding these treatments: