Australians are waiting an average of 466 days for medicines to become affordable and accessible on the PBS.
Rob counts himself "lucky" that his medicine was listed on the PBS within a week of his shell-shocking diagnosis, but he knows others aren't so fortunate.
Australians deserve a Stronger PBS that is faster, fairer and fit for the future.
It is 30 years since the PBS was comprehensively reviewed. In that time, science and medicines have significantly advanced but our process for listing medicines on the PBS has not kept pace.
Other countries have reviewed their systems so they keep pace with science and innovation. Based on
international best practice, the Stronger PBS campaign is working to reduce the wait time to 60 days.
It now takes 466 days on average for a medicine to be made available to Australians on the PBS. This is from when the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approves a new medicine as safe and effective, to when patients can get it on the PBS.
Although our treasured PBS has been helping Australians access affordable medicines for more than 75 years and is a cornerstone of our health system, a Stronger PBS will be faster, fairer and fit for the future.