Empowering New Zealand Nurses for Excellence in Healthcare

People in New Zealand aspire to have a health care system that delivers world-class cancer care; a system that provides timely access to high-quality services designed around their specific needs and those of their whānau. Te Aho o Te Kahu | Cancer Control Agency undertakes national initiatives to improve cancer outcomes for people in New Zealand and to assemble and disseminate cancer data and information to inform decision-making and service delivery.  As part of our ongoing work to provide...

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As we come to the end of 2025, we want to thank you for being part of an extraordinary year. Together with your peers, you contributed to 25,000 webinar registrations, 60,000 podcast downloads, and 12,000 eLearning starts. In 2026, we’re committed to bringing you even more premium content created to empower primary care professionals. And we’re starting as we mean to go on, with:  Adult ADHD: From diagnosis to long-term management WEBINAR 3 February, 7.30pm: Join Psychiatrist David Codyre who...

Below is the latest information on Pharmac consultations, notifications, and supply issues for Primary Care Prescribers for week 05 December 2025. It includes information on:  New updates Resolved Supply Issues Pharmac funding both Estradot and Estradiol TDP Mylan brands of oestradiol patches From 1 December 2025, the funded brands of oestradiol patches will be Estradiol TDP Mylan and Estradot. Everyone who uses funded oestradiol patches will need to use either of these brands. Pharmac have...

We are writing to remind you of the delist (no longer funded) date of the 10mg presentations of clomipramine (capsules and tablets). Key Points: •          The delist date from the Pharmaceutical Schedule is 1 April 2026 •          Clomipramine 25mg presentations will remain available and listed on the Pharmaceutical Schedule •           Please continue to consider alternative options for patients that require the lower 10mg dose   Please share this information with...

New medicine supply notices Frumil (amiloride and furosemide): Discontinuation  (Pharmacode: 2125536) The supplier is discontinuing Frumil tablets. This is a global discontinuation. Supplies are likely to run out in February 2026. A flyer is available to support conversations with affected people. Mometasone furoate (Elocon) Oint 0.1% 50 g pack  (Pharmacode: 2395746) Because of recent unusually high sales, the supplier is out of stock of the Elocon ointment 50 g pack. All other presentations...

From 19 December 2025, new prescriptions for GnRH analogues for the purpose of puberty suppression for children or adolescents with gender incongruence or gender dysphoria will no longer be permitted for patients who have not been prescribed a GnRH analogue previously.   This follows Government regulations introduced on 17 November 2025. The new regulations are published online here: Medicines (Restriction on Prescribing Gonadotropin-releasing Hormone Analogues) Amendment Regulations 2025  ...

Kia ora   The December 2025 edition of Prescriber Update  is now available on the Medsafe website. Please can you share it with your networks.   Kind regards   Medsafe Pharmacovigilance Team

Pharmac is seeking feedback on a proposal to fund a new strength of thiamine hydrochloride injection: 50 mg per ml in a 2 ml ampoule. Pharmac currently funds two strengths of thiamine hydrochloride injection: 100 mg per ml (1 ml and 2 ml vials) 125 mg per ml (2 ml vial) These would continue to be funded alongside the proposed 50 mg per ml (2 ml ampoule). If approved, this new strength would be funded from 1 April 2026.  Proposal to fund a new strength of thiamine hydrochloride injection   We...

New listing: We are writing to inform you of a brand change for lanreotide inj 60 mg per 0.5 ml, 0.5 ml syringe (Mytolac). Due to a supply issue with the Mytolac brand we have an alternate brand funded and available.   Key messages: lanreotide inj 60 mg per 0.5 ml, 0.5 ml syringe ( Mytolac ) brand is in short supply due to manufacturing delays. Alternative   Mytolac Section 29 product was listed (funded) 1 July 2025. Mytolac S29 - The outer box is in English with Mytolac  as the brand....

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In a paper by Walsh et al, 1  there was concern expressed that excess body weight (EBW) contributes to many cancers in New Zealand, compounding health inequities with higher proportions of EBW-attributable cancers within Māori and Pacific populations. Pacific peoples had the highest population attributable fraction (PAF) (11.8%), and this was highest among Pacific females (16.1%). Māori also had a higher PAF (6.9%) than European/Other (4.5%). Early detection and prevention are important. The...

We want your feedback on a proposal to widen access to bortezomib for people with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia (WM), a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Pharmac included bortezomib in the 2024/25 invitation to tender, and as a result of a price reduction, Pharmac is now proposing to widen access to bortezomib from 1 February 2026. If approved, this would allow people with Waldenström’s macroglobulinemia to receive bortezomib as an initial treatment or following treatment with other funded...

Pharmac has amended the 2025/26 Invitation to Tender with the following updates: Added:  thiamine hydrochloride inj 100 mg per ml, 1 ml Amended:   bupivacaine hydrochloride with adrenaline inj 0.25% with 1:400,000 of adrenaline, 20 ml non-sterile pack  → bupivacaine hydrochloride with adrenaline inj 0.25% with 1:400,000 of adrenaline, 20 ml bupivacaine hydrochloride with adrenaline inj 0.5% with 1:200,000 of adrenaline, 20 ml non-sterile pack  → bupivacaine hydrochloride with adrenaline inj...

Below is the latest information on Pharmac consultations, notifications, and supply issues for Primary Care Prescribers for week 28 November 2025. It includes information on:  New updates Resolved Supply Issues Pharmac funding both Estradot and Estradiol TDP Mylan brands of oestradiol patches From 1 December 2025, the funded brands of oestradiol patches will be Estradiol TDP Mylan and Estradot. Everyone who uses funded oestradiol patches will need to use either of these brands. The following...