Thousands of Australians with multiple sclerosis, asthma and diabetes will benefit from the listing or extension of several medications on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), bringing further support to patients and their families.
\nFrom March 1, Zeposia\u00ae and Atecture Breezhaler\u00ae will be listed on the PBS for the first time, and Trulicity\u00ae will have its PBS listing extended.
\nZeposia\u00ae (ozanimod) is used to treat relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), a chronic disease that attacks the central nervous system, and for which a cure is yet to be found.
\nOver 25,600 people in Australia have multiple sclerosis, and it affects each person differently, with more than 10 Australians diagnosed every week.
\nWithout the PBS subsidy, over 5,200 patients might pay more than $29,000 per year for this medicine, instead they will now pay $41.30 per script or $6.60 with a concession card.
\nAtecture Breezhaler\u00ae (indacaterol with mometsone) is used as a treatment for asthma, helping to relax and reduce swelling and irritation in the small airways in the lungs.
\nAround 2.7 million Australians live with asthma and can experience episodes of wheezing, shortness of breath, coughing, chest tightness and fatigue caused by narrowing of the airways.
\nWithout the PBS subsidy, over 34,600 patients might pay more than $400 per year to access this medicine, instead they will now pay $41.30 per script or $6.60 with a concession card.
\nTrulicity\u00ae (dulaglutide) is used in combination with insulin and metformin to treat type 2 diabetes, by helping the body produce more insulin when blood sugar levels are high.
\nAlmost one million Australians have type 2 diabetes and their pancreas does not produce enough insulin to control blood sugar levels.
\nWithout the PBS subsidy, around 12,000 patients might pay more than $1,700 per year for treatment, instead they will now pay $41.30 per script or $6.60 with a concession card.
\nEach listing has been recommended by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.
\nSince 2013, the Australian Government has approved more than 2,550 new or amended listings on the PBS. This represents an average of around 30 listings or amendments per month \u2013 or one each day \u2013 at an overall investment by the Government of $12.6 billion.
\nThe Government\u2019s commitment to ensuring that Australians can access affordable medicines, when they need them, remains rock solid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Thousands of Australians with multiple sclerosis, asthma and diabetes will benefit from the listing or extension of several medications on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), bringing further support to patients and their families. From March 1, Zeposia\u00ae and Atecture Breezhaler\u00ae will be listed on the PBS for the first time, and Trulicity\u00ae will have its … Continue reading “Expanding access to life changing medicines for thousands of Australians”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10486"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10486\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}