The Abbott Government has implemented more than 652 new and amended listings to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) since winning government in September, 2013.

In a press conference held on Thursday, May 21, 2015, Federal Health Minister, The Hon. Sussan Ley MP, said “We are listing new and amended drugs, about 30 a month, which is accelerating the rate of the previous Government.

“Since being elected, we’ve almost doubled the number of listings for consumers, a significant investment of over $3 billion in just over 18 months,” said Ms Ley.

Ms Ley assured Australians that under the Abbott government, a sustainable PBS and a focus on making medicines affordable and available to all Australians, is a priority for her department.

During the media conference staged to coincide with the Children’s Bioresource Centre (CBC) at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Sydney, Ms Ley discussed the recent Budget allocation of $1.3 billion for breast cancer and melanoma treatments, along with an extended indication for the eye disease treatment, Lucentis, and the government-subsidised shingles vaccine, Zostavax, to older Australians. 

The Minister also mentioned the revamped Australian clinical trials website, australianclinicaltrials.gov.au, re-launched on May 20, 2015, that represents a “one-stop shop” for clinical trials aiming to bring new therapies to market. Furthermore, she reinforced her Government’s commitment to making late-stage clinical trials more accessible to Australian patients wishing to enrol. 

Read the full transcript from the press conference here.