New OECD data shows Australia lagging in investing in medicines

Data newly released by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reveals that Australia is not matching other industrialized countries in investing in medicines to treat disease.

The new OECD Health Data 2014 report shows that Australia’s public spending on pharmaceuticals is at 0.7% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP), compared with the OECD average of 0.8%, on the most recently available international data.

Medicines Australia chief executive Brendan Shaw said: “Australia is investing proportionately less of its income on new treatments for things like cancer, diabetes, rare diseases and cardiovascular disease than many other OECD countries. The OECD data shows that Australia has consistently committed lower levels of public spending on medicines than the OECD average for many years.”