Over the past few months, I heard from women living with breast cancer who were scared about what the future held for their treatment.
These women relied on a medicine called Zoladex as part of their care.
For many, it was a medicine they had used for years. Then, suddenly, they were facing the prospect that it would no longer be available in Australia on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
The uncertainty around the potential removal of 3.6mg dose of Zoladex by pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca from the Australian market understandably caused enormous concern.
Women wanted to know what it meant for them. Would there be another treatment available? Would it work for them? Would they be able to afford it? And, importantly, would they be able to continue their care without disruption?
For some women with breast cancer, ovarian suppression is a critical part of their treatment. It can help reduce the risk of cancer returning or help control metastatic breast cancer. For younger women undergoing chemotherapy, it can also help preserve the possibility of having children in the future.
I heard directly from women about how frightening that uncertainty was.
One of those women was Katie-Marie Thorpe, who is living with metastatic breast cancer.
Katie told me about waking up to a headline saying the medicine she relied on would be withdrawn, without knowing what would replace it.
For Katie, that uncertainty contributed to an extraordinarily difficult and irreversible decision.
At just 34 years old, she chose to have her ovaries surgically removed. It meant entering surgical menopause, and it meant confronting the reality she would never carry a child.
Katie was not alone in having those conversations. Other women around Australia were having similar ones. Women were talking to their specialists about permanent and irreversible surgery because they did not know whether the ovarian suppression treatment they needed would continue to be available.
Women living with cancer already carry enormous uncertainty. Whether they can access the medicine prescribed by their doctor should not be another thing keeping them awake at night.
That is why listening to women through this process has been so important.
Following AstraZeneca’s announcement, our Government sat down with the Breast Cancer Network Australia, women and clinicians so we could discuss the enormity of the impact and investigate alternative treatment options.
Last week, I joined Health Minister Mark Butler, to provide women with some much-needed reassurance.
We announced that from 1 October, Triptorelin will have its PBS listing expanded for the treatment of a range of women’s health conditions, including breast cancer, endometriosis and uterine fibroids. This medication has been available in overseas markets for these same conditions and is safe, effective and proven.
Without a PBS subsidy, Triptorelin could cost up to $1,370 a script. From 1 October, eligible Australians will pay no more than $25 a script, or $7.70 for concession card holders.
Katie joined us for the announcement. After everything she and so many other women had been through over the previous few months hearing her reflect on what this moment meant was incredibly powerful
“Living with cancer will always come with things that we cannot control. But today, women have been given some of that control back. And for thousands of women in our community, that means so much more than just another medicine being listed on the PBS.”
This announcement was the outcome of a lot of work over the last few months that has been driven by the purpose to restore certainty for Australian women whose lives had been put into a spin.
It was about making sure women can sit down with their doctor and make decisions about the treatment that is right for them, with confidence that an affordable and effective option will be available.
Women, like Katie, who spoke up about Zoladex did something important and brave.
Their voices made clear just how much was at stake. Last week’s announcement means thousands of women can now look ahead with greater certainty, knowing an affordable monthly treatment option will be available through the PBS from October, with no gap in care options.
I am grateful to every woman who spoke up and shared their experience. Their stories have stayed with me and reinforced why listening to women must remain at the heart of the work we do.
Women deserve to be heard, to have their concerns taken seriously and to have confidence in the care they receive.
