InGeNA has welcomed the release of the parliamentary report ‘The New Frontier: Delivering better health for all Australians’ which recommends significant reforms to the health care system to ensure Australians have better and faster access to the wave of new medicines and technologies.
Releasing the report, the Chair of the Committee, Trent Zimmerman MP said: “We are witnessing what will be a revolution in the treatment of many conditions, as our understanding of genomics and the development of precision medicine develops. In so many other areas we are also seeing progress in drugs and technology, which has been reflected in the development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.”
“These innovations reflect the new frontier of medicine, which is giving hope to many for better treatments and technologies for conditions ranging from cancers to rare diseases. At its forefront, is the development of personalised or precision medicine, which is being delivered as our understanding of fields – like genomics – grows.”
Australia has one of the world’s best systems for assessing new treatments and ensuring they are delivered in an affordable way to patients. However, the system can be improved and we need to ensure it is ready to meet the challenges of many new innovations that will not neatly fit current health technology assessment processes.
The Committee received over 200 submissions and held 13 days of public hearings in several capital cities.
“I believe that all the Committee’s recommendations will make a real difference to the lives of Australian patients as well as industry and the R&D sector, including the clinical trials sector,” Mr Zimmerman added.