News

Coming up in CPD:  Goodfellow Symposium 2026 21/22 March 2026: Practical, evidence-based clinical skills you can use next week:  Check it out here .  Asthma update: latest treatments and practical tips WEBINAR 18 November: Angela Moran reviews the NZ Asthma guidelines and discusses the types of asthma and which treatments may be appropriate for these, including biologic therapies.    Register here   Updates in gout and weight management WEBINAR 25 November: Join Lisa Stamp, Rinki Murphy and...

Issue 333 - 13 November 2025 Welcome to the fortnightly Health Improvement and Innovation Digest. The Digest has links to key evidence of interest, with access to new content arranged by topic. You can forward this newsletter to others who may be interested in receiving it. They can register and subscribe here . You can also access other recent issues of the digest here. If you have any queries, please email us at  library@health.govt.nz . Article Access For articles that aren't open access,...

Pharmac Decision: Silver diamine fluoride to be funded from 1 December Pharmac has confirmed it will fund silver diamine fluoride for people accessing dental services through public hospitals, and the ‘Health New Zealand Community Oral Health Service’ for children and some adolescents. This decision follows recent consultation and is expected to benefit children, elderly patients, and those who may find some traditional dental procedures challenging. Silver diamine fluoride is a topical...

Kia ora,Pharmac is funding five medicines through a multiproduct agreement with Roche. These medicines will provide new or improved treatment options for people with multiple sclerosis, eye conditions, breast cancer and lung cancer.The medicines we are funding are: Ocrelizumab (Ocrevus SC): a new injection option for multiple sclerosis Pertuzumab with trastuzumab (Phesgo): a new combined injection for HER2-positive metastatic breast cancer Faricimab (Vabysmo): for diabetic macular oedema and...

Kia ora, Pharmac has amended the 2025/26 Invitation to Tender with the following updates: Added:  cetirizine hydrochloride oral liq 1 mg per ml Amended:   midazolam inj 2.5 mg per ml, buccal syringe → midazolam inj 2.5 mg, buccal syringe midazolam inj 5 mg per ml, buccal syringe → midazolam inj 5 mg, buccal syringe midazolam inj 7.5 mg per ml, buccal syringe → midazolam inj 7.5 mg, buccal syringe midazolam inj 10 mg per ml, buccal syringe → midazolam inj 10 mg, buccal syringe These...

We are writing to inform you of a supply issue with   all strengths of codeine phosphate tablets (15mg, 30mg, 60mg)   Key messages:   Noumed, the supplier of Codeine Phosphate tablets, has advised that the 30 mg presentation is currently out of stock. Limited stock remains of the 15 mg and 60 mg presentations. New stock will be available in the week commencing 17 November.   Noumed has stock of 15 mg tablets and 60 mg tablets currently in NZ that needs to be re-labelled to extend the expiry...