Advocacy

Fighting important issues on behalf of patients and families is just one of the ways in which we support people living with leukaemia and related blood conditions in New Zealand.

Advocacy can take many forms, from supporting initiatives to have new breakthrough drugs funded, to being involved in key decision-making processes that could affect the delivery of treatment and services.

Campaigns

Save the 90 - In 2002, the LBF ran a campaign called "Save the 90" to highlight the need for funding for a new drug, Glivec, for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML).

Internationally, Glivec was identified as the best form of treatment for people with CML, proving far more effective than the existing treatment, Interferon. It was billed as the biggest breakthrough in cancer treatment for 25 years, offering patients on it a better quality of life. However, whilst the drug was readily available overseas, funding issues in New Zealand delayed its introduction.

The campaign ran the period leading up to local parliamentary elections and asked members of the public to vote on whether they thought the drug should be funded. Billboard posters featuring five patients who desperately needed Glivec were placed alongside those of election candidates and full-page adverts were run in major daily newspapers.

Over the three days the campaign ran, nearly 5,000 people voted online, 98% registering a resounding yes in support of Glivec funding. The many online votes also triggered a submission to Pharmac, the body responsible for drug funding.

In December 2002, Pharmac announced that it would fund Glivec and make it available to all CML patients, a decision that was welcomed both by patients and medical practitioners.