Health

MS suffers get better drug access in Australia - study

08:27 am on 14 September 2021

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A new study is highlighting significant health inequities between New Zealanders living with multiple sclerosis and their Australian counterparts.

The study found that Australians with the auto-immune disease - three-quarters of them women - enjoy nearly double the rate of access to MS drug treatments than do their Kiwi counterparts.

What's more, the Aussies surveyed tend to get their treatments a lot earlier. Mutiple Sclerosis NZ will be using the findings to argue for Pharmac to bridge the trans-Tasman gap.

Its president Neil Woodhams spoke to Susie Ferguson.