New Pharmac drugs will 'significantly' impact quality of life for cancer patients - PM
New drugs for lung cancer and breast cancer, as well as a new treatment for multiple sclerosis will be funded by Pharmac, the Government announced today. In addition, access to a treatment for respiratory disease - pirfenidone, known by brand name Esbriet - will be widened. The drugs for non-small cell lung cancer and HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer will be available from December 1. Health Minister David Clark said the drug funding would help 420 people, "including people living with advanced cancer". "Pharmac is currently consulting on three more cancer drugs - olaparib (Lynparza) for ovarian cancer, fulvestrant (Faslodex) for breast cancer and venetoclax (Venclexta) for chronic lymphocytic leukaemia," he said in a statement. The drugs funded from December 1 will be alectinib, known as Alecensa, for ALK positive advanced non-small cell lung cancer and trastuzumab emtansine, which goes by brand name Kadcyla, for HER-2 positive metastatic breast cancer.
"It will take time to modernise our approach to cancer care and control and improve survival rates, but today signifies good progress on the delivery of our plan," Mr Clark said.
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What word sums up 2024, neighbours?
If 2020 was the year of lockdowns, banana bread, and WFH (work from home)....
In one word, how would you define 2024?
We're excited to see what you come up with!
Poll: Would you rather: Christmas in summer forever or winter forever?
Just a bit of a fun poll to get you thinking.
If you had to live out your Christmas days, would you prefer it was a summer Christmas or a winter Christmas?
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63.1% Summer
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35.5% Winter
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1.4% Other - I'll share below
⚠️ DOGS DIE IN HOT CARS. If you love them, don't leave them. ⚠️
It's a message we share time and time again, and this year, we're calling on you to help us spread that message further.
Did you know that calls to SPCA about dogs left inside hot cars made up a whopping 11% of all welfare calls last summer? This is a completely preventable issue, and one which is causing hundreds of dogs (often loved pets) to suffer.
Here are some quick facts to share with the dog owners in your life:
👉 The temperature inside a car can heat to over 50°C in less than 15 minutes.
👉 Parking in the shade and cracking windows does little to help on a warm day. Dogs rely on panting to keep cool, which they can't do in a hot car.
👉 This puts dogs at a high risk of heatstroke - a serious condition for dogs, with a mortality rate between 39%-50%.
👉 It is an offence under the Animal Welfare Act to leave a dog in a hot vehicle if they are showing signs of heat stress. You can be fined, and prosecuted.
SPCA has created downloadable resources to help you spread the message even further. Posters, a flyer, and a social media tile can be downloaded from our website here: www.spca.nz...
We encourage you to use these - and ask your local businesses to display the posters if they can. Flyers can be kept in your car and handed out as needed.
This is a community problem, and one we cannot solve alone. Help us to prevent more tragedies this summer by sharing this post.
On behalf of the animals - thank you ❤️
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