Month: October 2021

The Morrison Government has announced the membership of the Council of the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC).
The new Council will play a key role in supporting the NHMRC in its mission of building a healthy Australia.
The Council will serve a three-year term to June 2024 and will be chaired by Professor Caroline Homer AO.
Membership of the Council brings together expertise in biomedical science, clinical and public health, nursing, health care training and the medical profession, as well as business and consumer perspectives, and expertise in the health needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Eleven of the 15 non-ex-officio members are women, a record in female membership of the Council.
Professor Homer is an internationally-renowned midwifery researcher, scholar and leader in maternal and newborn health care and service delivery. With more than 25 years’ experience in clinical practice, research, education and international development, she is Co-Program Director of Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health at the Burnet Institute and an Emeritus Professor of Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney.
Professor Homer is current Deputy Chair of the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board and Chair of the NHMRC’s Peer Review Analysis Committee. She was a member of the Council in 2018–2021 and has previously been a member of the NHMRC’s Research Committee and Chair of the NHMRC’s Women in Health Science Committee.
The NHMRC is the nation’s leading body supporting excellent health and medical research to improve health outcomes for all Australians. It provides the foundation for Australia’s medical research capability, funding the best research and researchers, ensuring consistent health standards and advising on ethical issues in health. The Council’s role is to ensure that robust expert advice reflecting a wide range of perspectives is provided to the NHMRC Chief Executive Officer, Professor Anne Kelso AO, to support these functions.
I would like to thank the former Chair of the NHMRC Council, Professor Bruce Robinson AC, and all members of the former Council for their contributions and commitment to supporting the work of the NHMRC throughout the previous triennium (2018–2021).
NHMRC Council 2021–2024:

The Morrison Government is helping improve access to an important treatment for Australians battling a form of breast cancer.
From 1 November 2021, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listing of Verzenio® (abemaciclib) will also be expanded for use in combination with fulvestrant.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, with approximately 55 Australians diagnosed every day. 1 in 7 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
The treatment will be accessible for non-premenopausal breast cancer patients with hormone receptor positive (HR+) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-) inoperable locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
Verzenio® works by inhibiting two proteins that drive the growth of tumour cells and when used in combination with fulvestrant can slow the progression of breast cancers in some patients.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said the expanded PBS listing will benefit around 1,600 Australians and their families each year.
“Without this PBS subsidy Australian patients would pay around $80,000 per course of treatment, instead they’ll only pay $41.30 per script or $6.60 with a concession card for these medicines,” Minister Hunt said.
“This listing will help improve the lives of many Australians, ensuring they can access the treatment they need, while reducing their out of pocket costs.”
In April 2021, the Government expanded the listing of Kisqali® (ribociclib) for use in combination with fulvestrant on the PBS for this patient group, this new further treatment option gives hope to more Australians battling breast cancer by providing access to a choice of treatments.
Since 2013, the Coalition Government had approved more than 2,700 new or amended listings on the PBS. This represents an average of around 30 listings or amendments per month – or one each day – at an overall investment by the Government of $13.8 billion.
The Morrison Government’s commitment to ensuring Australians can access affordable medicines, when they need them, remains rock solid.
These PBS listings have been recommended by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.

From 1 November 2021, patients with chronic bowel inflammation will be able to claim a Medicare rebate for non-invasive laboratory tests, reducing the need for diagnostic endoscopy and colonoscopy procedures.
The Morrisonac Government is listing faecal calprotectin testing to diagnose inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) on the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).
Its use means that fewer patients will require diagnostic endoscopy and colonoscopy, with faecal calprotectin shown to be an effective, safer and significantly cheaper alternative.
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis – collectively known as IBD – are chronic diseases that require complex and long-term care.
Two new items will be listed on the MBS – one to test faecal calprotectin levels for diagnostic purposes as requested by a medical practitioner and another for follow-up testing for diagnostic confirmation when requested by a specialist gastroenterologist.
Patients presenting to a medical practitioner must have been experiencing symptoms suggestive of inflammatory or functional bowel disease for more than six weeks, be under 50 years of age, and have had infectious causes excluded to be eligible for the MBS rebated test, which will assist in distinguishing inflammatory from functional bowel disease.
A further test can be requested by a specialist gastroenterologist when an initial test is inconclusive.
The new items have been recommended by the expert Medical Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) and the Australian Government has agreed with the recommendations.
Consultation has been undertaken with key stakeholders, clinical experts and providers, and consumer health representatives as part of the MSAC process.

The Morrison Government is helping improve access to an important treatment for Australians battling a form of breast cancer.
From 1 November 2021, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listing of Verzenio® (abemaciclib) will also be expanded for use in combination with fulvestrant.
Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Australia, with approximately 55 Australians diagnosed every day. 1 in 7 women are diagnosed with breast cancer in their lifetime.
The treatment will be accessible for non-premenopausal breast cancer patients with hormone receptor positive (HR+) and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 negative (HER2-) inoperable locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer.
Verzenio® works by inhibiting two proteins that drive the growth of tumour cells and when used in combination with fulvestrant can slow the progression of breast cancers in some patients.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said the expanded PBS listing will benefit around 1,600 Australians and their families each year.
“Without this PBS subsidy Australian patients would pay around $80,000 per course of treatment, instead they’ll only pay $41.30 per script or $6.60 with a concession card for these medicines,” Minister Hunt said.
“This listing will help improve the lives of many Australians, ensuring they can access the treatment they need, while reducing their out of pocket costs.”
In April 2021, the Government expanded the listing of Kisqali® (ribociclib) for use in combination with fulvestrant on the PBS for this patient group, this new further treatment option gives hope to more Australians battling breast cancer by providing access to a choice of treatments.
Since 2013, the Coalition Government had approved more than 2,700 new or amended listings on the PBS. This represents an average of around 30 listings or amendments per month – or one each day – at an overall investment by the Government of $13.8 billion.
The Morrison Government’s commitment to ensuring Australians can access affordable medicines, when they need them, remains rock solid.
These PBS listings have been recommended by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee.

The Morrison Government is giving Australians new support on their IVF journey, providing Medicare rebates for testing services that can help prevent them passing serious genetic disorders onto their child.
Until now, people who know they are carriers of serious genetic disorders could only access these testing services if they were able to pay privately.
From 1 November 2021, people will be able to claim a Medicare rebate for five new Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) items for new Pre-implantation Genetic Testing (PGT) services provided within the existing IVF process.
Types of genetic disorders able to be tested include, but are not limited to, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy, spinal muscular atrophy, fragile X, neurofibromatosis and Huntington disease.
PGT is a sophisticated scientific technique which can be used to test embryos for either a specific known single gene condition or chromosome variation. This allows chromosomally healthy embryos or those unaffected by a specific genetic disorder to be selected for implantation during an IVF cycle, maximising the chance of a healthy baby.
The Government is providing $95.9 million so that PGT services can be reimbursed through Medicare. This implements recommendations from the independent, expert Medical Services Advisory Committee.
This change will give real, practical support to individuals and couples on their fertility journey. It will help ease the financial strain on people using IVF to conceive.
Under the direction of a medical specialist, Medicare funding will support individuals or couples who carry a risk of passing on a serious genetic or chromosomal disorder to their child for which there is no cure and which causes a severe limitation on the quality of life.
Other IVF services already funded under Medicare will not change under the new arrangements.
More information is available at MBS Online.

The next phase of the Australian Government’s vaccine communication campaign launches today, with the message ‘we’re almost there Australia’, reminding people that with increasing vaccinations we are able to return to a more normal, free life.
Whilst we have reached Phase B of the National Plan with seventy per cent of the eligible general population now fully vaccinated and more than 86.1 per cent have had at least one dose, we need to ensure people receive their second dose and we reach the 80 per cent fully vaccinated mark.
The advertisements create a sense of encouragement and a feeling of enjoying more freedoms as Australia opens up, as Australians start to return to travelling overseas, birthday parties, weddings, and a family Christmas.  It provides a positive, hopeful tone, with a touch of humour, to motivate those who are more hesitant, to get vaccinated to avoid missing out on greater freedoms.
The “Spread Freedom” campaign will air from tonight and materials will be shared across all media channels.
To further encourage First Australians to get vaccinated against COVID-19, the Government is also launching a new project entitled “For all of us’.
The project features a number of high profile Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians who have come together to encourage their mob to get vaccinated.
Model Samantha Harris, musician Baker Boy, chef Nornie Bero, street artist Tori-Jay Mordey and renowned didgeridoo player and vocalist William Barton all encourage further vaccination uptake and seek to combat vaccine hesitancy.
The project conveys the simple message ‘For our past, for our future, for all of us. Get vaccinated for COVID-19’.
Committees representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, people with a disability and the multicultural communities are being consulted regularly to ensure the vaccination messaging is clear, appropriate and disseminated through the best communication channels to reach all Australians.
The communications campaign also supports on-the-ground engagement with the public, including information kiosks at shopping centres and events, and community in-reach activities with CALD and Indigenous communities.
The Australian Government’s comprehensive COVID-19 vaccination communications campaign is being supported with an investment of more than $90 million.
The Spread Freedom and “For all of us” materials will be available on Health.gov.au from 24 October 2021.