South Pacific

Dave Roberts is fighting for his life, and his doctor says there is only one option left to him, an immunotherapy treatment called Kymriah.

Australian mother Deb Ware is in a race to save her son from a crippling addiction to opioids.

AP journalist Kristen Gelineau shares her experience reporting on the opioid crisis across Australia.

Like in the U.S., the problem has hit the country’s poorest areas the hardest. One region of Tasmania _ Australia’s poorest state _ has more opioid prescriptions than people.

Australia is following the same ominous course as the United States, with skyrocketing rates of opioid prescriptions and related deaths.

Pharmac, the agency charged with purchasing affordable drugs has long been seen as the jewel in their health system, has come under fire for not funding enough drugs, or not funding them fast enough.

New Zealand is one of only two developed countries, along with the US, that permits direct-to-consumer advertising of prescription medicines.

Edition: August 2019

Australia to reimburse drug used to treat cystic fibrosis.

A brain-invading parasite has made nearly 100 people sick in Hawaii in the last decade. How worried should health officials be?

The New Zealand government’s drug-buying agency has been getting a lot of media coverage lately.

Transparency needs to be improved by increasing publicly available information on out-of-pocket costs together with health outcomes.

Unlike other developed countries, New Zealand puts a ceiling on its medicines budget, and drug buying agency Pharmac is very disciplined: In 26 years of existence, it has never breached its spending cap.

It turns out healthcare isn’t maths.