Dr Andrew Thompson

On behalf of Macular Degeneration New Zealand (MDNZ), trustee and Tauranga-based ophthalmologist, Dr Andrew Thompson, met with the Health Minister, David Clark in June.

The meeting was part of a long-standing effort to obtain more support for macular degeneration treatment and awareness in New Zealand. Initial work - boosted by the Royal College of Australia and New Zealand Ophthalmologists (RANZCO) decision to involve the media in the eye treatment waiting list scandal at the end of 2016 - culminated in a report being commissioned by the government, from Ernst & Young (EY), at the start of last year. This Tier 3 (model-of-care) report into age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in New Zealand was given to the government in August last year, but was put on hold due to the election.

Dr Thompson said his Ministerial meeting was to pursue sign-off and action on the EY report and to highlight the inequity of access to anti-VEGF intravitreal injections between and within district health boards.

There are several recommendations from the as-yet-unsigned-off report that have already come to fruition, said Dr Thompson, including improved access to Eylea as a second-line agent for use when Avastin is ineffective. The National Ophthalmology Expert Advisory Group (EAG), led by Dr Stephen Ng, met the same day as Dr Thompson’s meeting with the Minister and is also progressing aspects of the report, he said.

“There is no certainty around the signing off of the EY report, which essentially is a policy document on the model-of-care for macular degeneration. However, the meeting with the Minister of Health was positive… the Minister appeared receptive to the issue and our meeting was well supported by a Ministry of Health representative.”