New range of medication available to women in Australia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Australian women will be able to access a new range of medications through the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. Under the changes, some people will also be able to receive a fertility therapy sooner - one that's currently only available in later IVF cycles.

Transcript

00:00Felina Shahadi feels lucky to have her bubbly one-year-old boy in her arms.

00:07It's definitely worth it.

00:09Yes?

00:10Yeah, it's worth it.

00:12After struggling to fall pregnant, the fertility scientist became a fertility patient.

00:18Her first round of IVF was not successful.

00:21I think it took a bit of an emotional and physical toll on me.

00:24For her second cycle, she used a treatment called Percoveris.

00:28Today she joined the Health Minister at her workplace

00:31as he announced it would soon be available to more women

00:34following recommendations by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Council.

00:38This is a fertility treatment used during IVF

00:42for women with low levels of a specific reproductive hormone.

00:46From April 1, Percoveris will be available to eligible patients

00:50from the start of their IVF journey

00:53and they'll be reimbursed for twice as much.

00:56One month later, endometriosis medicine ReEQUO will also be added to the PBS

01:02along with oral contraceptive Solyndra,

01:04a move the Minister claims will benefit around 100,000 women.

01:09All of those women will have that pill available to them

01:12for as little as $25 a year if they're on a concession card.

01:16The Health Minister has not yet revealed how much these latest changes will cost,

01:21saying further details will be included in the upcoming federal budget.

01:25This builds on a $573 million women's health package

01:29that Labor recently announced and the Coalition quickly matched.

01:33We are very keen to continue to prioritise women's health

01:36as part of the Coalition's health platform going forward.

01:38Both sides keen to secure the votes of Australian women

01:41before all voters head to the polls.

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