Medical specialists in menopause are hailing the decision to publicly fund an oestrogen gel, providing a solution to the ongoing shortage of hormone replacement treatment (HRT) patches.
From November 1 the drug buying agency Pharmac will fully fund Estrogel, which can ordinarily cost at least $40 a month.
The gel, which is absorbed into the skin, helps relieve menopausal symptoms.
It has the same efficacy and safety as the Pharmac-funded HRT patches but without the supply problems.
For the past few years there’s been a global shortage of the patches, partly due to an increase in demand but also supply chain complications.
Monica Barnes, a clinical nurse specialist who runs a private menopause clinic, said some women have had to discontinue HRT treatment because of the stress of trying to obtain the patches.
She said the decision to fund the gel is a “huge win for women in New Zealand”.
The gel, like the patches, contains body identical oestradiol, a type of oestrogen.
Dr Linda Dear, who runs specialist menopause clinic Menodoctor, said it was “great” to now have a second form of hormone treatment funded.
“The patch supply problem is not something we can fix here in New Zealand, but one way around it is by having that other option,” said Dear.
She petitioned for the gel to get funded and said the journey to get it across the line was quicker and easier than she expected.
“The first talk about gels becoming funded wasn’t all that long ago, bearing in mind getting other things funded such as body identical progesterone took 10 years.”
She said women don’t have to rush out and switch to a gel if what they’re using is working for them.
“Especially if you’re on a patch, because really the safety and efficacy is the same. But if you are struggling to get hold of your patches then I think that is a big reason that women will prefer to maybe switch to the gel because the supply there does seem to be ok.”
Pharmac estimates 18,000 people will benefit from the gel in the first year, rising to 47,000 over the next five years.
