Malcolm Mulholland: Patient Voice Aotearoa Chair on the new expectations for Pharmac

Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

There’s confidence Māori health outcomes won't be impacted by Pharmac focussing on health determinants rather than ethnicity.

In a letter of expectations to Pharmac Board Chair Paula Bennett, David Seymour says he doesn't think its commitment to embedding the Treaty of Waitangi is appropriate, and it’s no longer expected.

Seymour says the drug-buying agency's burnt a lot of energy doing that over recent years.

Patient Voice Aotearoa's Malcolm Mulholland told Ryan Bridge he's okay with that directive.

He says there was never any evidence that the Treaty provisions within Pharmac's decision making process led to more Māori accessing medicine.

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