Lifesaver for allergy sufferers should be funded: doctor

The Government should fund adrenaline auto-injectors for New Zealanders with food allergies as it can save lives, a doctor says.

New Zealanders with a food allergy are at risk of anaphylaxis, a sudden, severe, and potentially life-threatening allergic reaction that can affect all ages. The adrenaline auto-injector, the most widely accepted treatment for anaphylaxis, costs $150 and expires every year.

Though death from food allergy was rare in New Zealand, the two most recent deaths might have been prevented if those people had an adrenaline auto-injector with them, Auckland Allergy clinic's Dr Vincent Crump said.

"The cost puts it out of reach for some. The auto-injector is funded in Australia but not in New Zealand. Pharmac (the government drug funding agency) is trying to save money but this can help save lives."

Around six to eight percent of children suffer from a food allergy, as do two percent of adults.

Many patients in New Zealand were unable to afford an auto-injector, and some patients who had purchased one admitted they had been reluctant to use it because of the cost and had preferred to travel to a GP or hospital, according to the New Zealand Medical Journal.

People should always have their adrenaline auto-injector with them and if they didn't when eating at a restaurant then they shouldn't eat, said Anaphylaxis Australia president Maria Said in a statement today.

Pharmac would be looking at funding auto-injectors in the future but they were a terrible price, Pharmac medical director Peter Moodie said.

"We are open to negotiations with the companies that manufacture the auto-injectors. For the meantime, although not as convenient, adrenaline is fully funded but people will need to inject it themselves," he said.