At the end of November, we submitted a consumer application to Pharmac to fund Emgality (galcanezumab) for the treatment of chronic migraine.
To coincide with our application, we’ve developed an Emgality advocacy toolkit. The toolkit is designed to help people in New Zealand support our application and raise awareness of migraine and the vital need for improved access to modern migraine medications.
Basically, we in the migraine community need to make more noise about the disabling, and often devastating, impact migraine has on our lives. We know migraine is more than just a headache, yet this myth persists, and it’s up to us to make our voices louder in New Zealand.
Our Migraine in New Zealand survey was hugely successful thanks to our growing migraine community and supporters. Some of the insights from the survey have already proved invaluable and were used to strengthen our Pharmac application.
Now we’re calling on our amazing migraine community to continue to help us advocate for Emgality. The more migraine is talked about on social media, in the media and on the radio, the more awareness there will be. We need to be talking with our local Members of Parliament, the government and other decision makers, so that they understand the burden of migraine – personally, professionally and on society as a whole.
Please get involved.
Our Emgality advocacy toolkit contains practical ways you can, today, help advocate for the funding of Emgality. The toolkit includes:
- information about Emgality
- information about how medications are approved and funded in Aotearoa New Zealand
- key messages to share with the public and decision makers about Emgality and the impact of migraine
- how you can help advocate through social media, emailing Pharmac, meeting with your local Member of Parliament, talking with media organisations, and more.
- To help, the toolkit also includes template letters and email addresses of key people.
Please check out the toolkit and lend your voice to migraine advocacy to help create positive change in Aotearoa New Zealand. It’s going to take a village to improve things in New Zealand, but we know we can do it.
