More drugs get tick for taxpayer subsidy

ELEVEN new drugs that treat a range of diseases from cystic fibrosis to infertility will receive taxpayer subsidies, cutting the price of medicines for 45,000 patients.

Among them is Bronchitol, a drug discovered and trialled in Australia. The portable inhaler hydrates and helps to expel mucous - reducing the odds of bacterial infection on the lungs, which is a constant affliction of many people with cystic fibrosis.

It would otherwise cost patients up to $7247 a year, but now, like all 11 of the approved drugs, the price will be capped at $5.80 per script for concession card holders and $35.40 for other patients.

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Health Minister Tanya Plibersek lauded the decision to subsidise the drugs under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. ''This will ensure more patients have greater access to the medicines and treatment they need at subsidised prices,'' she said.

The listing of Bronchitol, also known as Mannitol, is expected to give up to 325 young people relief from the symptoms of the chronic genetic illness - prolonged hacking coughing fits, infections and reduced lung capacity. Sian Ellett, 23, a masters student in creative writing at Melbourne University, said the drug had a profound impact in reducing prolonged coughing fits and chest infections while she trialled the drug.

''CF means bugs grow really easily in the lungs, you are really susceptible to being sick, you'll often be on antibiotics. That's where the Mannitol came in and changed things. I wasn't coughing as intensely, didn't get sick as often, my neck and back were able to relax a bit,'' she said.

''When I was coughing, instead of going into this big wheezy tight painful condition, the Mannitol broke away whatever was in my lungs. So instead of having a 10-15 minute coughing fit, I'd just cough maybe twice and it would stop.''

Perth mother Carmel Rankin said the drug, in conjunction with an intense physiotherapy and dietary program at the Children's Hospital, had helped to boost her eight-year-old daughter Sarah's lung function.

A big attraction was it only took three or four minutes to use, and did not require a nebuliser that had to be sterilised. ''Because it is quicker and easier to do, she can do it by herself without me,'' she said. ''It makes the mucous more hydrated and easier to cough up and get out. The lungs fill with mucous which is a breeding ground for bacteria.''

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More drugs get tick for taxpayer subsidy