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5 June 2024
M Wil iams
Via email:
fyirequest26968[email address]
Tēnā koe M Wil iams
Request for information: Oestradiol supply matters
Thank you for your request dated 24 May 2024 under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA)
for information relating to Oestradiol (Estradot) products. You requested:
1. Al correspondence relating to the Pharmac's management of the supply issue for
Oestradiol (Estradot) patches, Oestradiol gel and other products. Including
correspondence to Pharmacists, wholesalers, distributors, hospital pharmacists,
Ministry of Health, Public Health Agency, Consumers and Advocacy Groups, PHO's
and primary care organisations and other interested parties (From 2022 onwards)
2. Correspondence and documents that relate to Pharmac's most recent decision to
Request for Proposals for supply of transdermal oestriadol products. Please include
documentation regarding the announced Tender process and current status (From
2022 onwards).
3. Internal Policies and/or guidance relating to the management and access to
Oestradiol (Estradot) patches, Oestradiol gel and other products.
4. Correspondence and documentation that evidence Pharmac have considered the
fol owing in their management of the supply issue for Oestradiol (Estradot) patches,
Oestradiol gel and other products Impact on the wel being of people who are unable
to receive the treatment they need, alignment with Pharmac's Achieving access
equity, Human Rights considerations i.e. discrimination on the grounds of Gender and
Disability, number of complaints received about the supply issue/Pharmac's
management of the issue
5. budget assigned to resolving the supply issue of Oestradiol (Estradot) patches,
Oestradiol gel and other products.
As it stands, your request for information relating to Oestradiol (Estradot) products is very
broad. An initial search of the term ‘Oestradiol’ in our document management system
returned over 3000 results, which does not include al potential emails or correspondence.
To identify information relevant to your request would require col ating and assessing
thousands of documents.
A significant portion of these are likely to be emails, which also require individual assessment
of each piece of correspondence to discern its contents.
This would place an unreasonable degree of strain on the team responsible and would
interfere with the daytoday workings of Pharmac. I am therefore refusing your request in
ful , in accordance with section 18(f) of the OIA, as the requested information cannot be
made available without substantial col ation or research.
However, we hope the below information wil be helpful, which includes some general
information and links to publicly available resources. For clarity, I have set out this
information below in response to the relevant questions.
1. All correspondence relating to the Pharmac's management of the supply issue
for Oestradiol (Estradot) patches, Oestradiol gel and other products. Including
correspondence to Pharmacists, wholesalers, distributors, hospital
pharmacists, Ministry of Health, Public Health Agency, Consumers and
Advocacy Groups, PHO's and primary care organisations and other interested
parties (From 2022 onwards)
Pharmac provides regular updates on the global supply issue affecting oestradiol patches,
here:
https://pharmac.govt.nz/medicinefundingandsupply/medicinenotices/oestradiol
We encourage you to check this page from time to time as it is regularly updated with new
information on the global supply issue.
2. Correspondence and documents that relate to Pharmac's most recent decision
to Request for Proposals for supply of transdermal oestriadol products. Please
include documentation regarding the announced Tender process and current
status (From 2022 onwards).
I can advise that the tender process is ongoing, and no decisions have been made. While I
cannot provide more information on the tender process, you may be interested in the
fol owing resources published on the Pharmac website:
Oestradiol gel Future procurement opportunity information
https://pharmac.govt.nz/newsandresources/news/20230815pharmacindicates
interesttofundmoreoestradioltreatmentstorelievesupplyissue
Oestradiol RFP information
https://pharmac.govt.nz/newsand
resources/news/mediareleasepharmacseekingbidsfromsupplierstofundanother
typeofhormonereplacementtherapy and
https://pharmac.govt.nz/newsand
resources/consultationsanddecisions/rfpsupplyofoestradiolgel
Information on the 2023/24 Invitation to Tender
https://pharmac.govt.nz/newsand
resources/consultationsanddecisions/tender20231031itt
Information on Pharmac’s Tender process
https://pharmac.govt.nz/medicinefunding
andsupply/thefundingprocess/theannualtender
3. Internal Policies and/or guidance relating to the management and access to
Oestradiol (Estradot) patches, Oestradiol gel and other products.
Pharmac has published some general information on supply management, here:
https://pharmac.govt.nz/medicinefundingandsupply/medicinesupply
management/managingmedicinesupply
You can also find more information on Pharmac’s interest in funding more oestradiol
treatments here:
https://pharmac.govt.nz/newsandresources/news/20230815pharmac
indicatesinteresttofundmoreoestradioltreatmentstorelievesupplyissue
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4. Correspondence and documentation that evidence Pharmac have considered
the following in their management of the supply issue for Oestradiol (Estradot)
patches, Oestradiol gel and other products Impact on the wellbeing of people
who are unable to receive the treatment they need, alignment with Pharmac's
Achieving access equity, Human Rights considerations i.e. discrimination on
the grounds of Gender and Disability, number of complaints received about the
supply issue/Pharmac's management of the issue
Pharmac has received and published the fol owing advice on the global oestradiol patch
supply issue, impact and potential alternatives:
https://pharmac.govt.nz/assets/202305EndocrinologyAdvisoryCommitteeclinical
advicesummaryFinal.pdf
https://pharmac.govt.nz/assets/202305ReproductiveandSexualHealthAdvisory
Committeeclinicaladvicesummaryfinal.pdf
5. budget assigned to resolving the supply issue of Oestradiol (Estradot) patches,
Oestradiol gel and other products.
There is no specific staff resource al ocated to oestradiol patches, and wil be met from
baseline operational funding
Please note, you have the right to make a complaint to the Ombudsman about our response
to your OIA, under section 28(3) of the OIA. Details of
how to make a complaint are on the
Ombudsman’s website.
To make information more freely available, we publish selected OIA responses (excluding
personal details) on our website. Please get in touch with us if you have any questions about
this.
Nāku noa, nā
Oliver Whitehead
Team Leader, Government Services
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