Sir Sam Neill - New Zealand actor and blood cancer survivor supports the ALLG’s concerns of proposed NZ bill affecting clinical trials | The Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group

Sir Sam Neill – New Zealand actor and blood cancer survivor supports the ALLG’s concerns of proposed NZ bill affecting clinical trials

Posted 06/04/2023

On 24 March 2023, three ALLG representatives including our CEO Delaine Smith and New Zealand (NZ) ALLG Members, haematologists Ruth Spearing and Claire Hemmaway (Former Chair of ALLG Medicines Access NZ Committee), presented at a New Zealand Select Health Subcommittee hearing about concerns regarding a proposed therapeutic products bill.

The NZ actor and blood cancer survivor Sir Sam Neill provided ALLG with a supportive statement for the presentation.

The proposed bill could significantly add to the burden of running international cooperative group trials like the ALLG’s in NZ and affect patient health outcomes.

Sir Sam Neill, now in remission after treatment for non-Hodgkin lymphoma, said in a statement for the ALLG’s presentation at the hearing:

I urge the select committee to note that it is so important that New Zealanders are able to access new, emerging and effective cancer treatments that are the standard of care in other parts of the world. Fast, straightforward availability to world class treatments and enrolment in clinical trials is what New Zealanders deserve as these therapies can be life-saving and life-changing for so
many”.

The story featured in the Herald Sun news, page 10, on March 31, 2023.

Read the ALLG’s submission to the Therapeutic and Natural Health Products Regulation – Considerations for Cabinet regarding the Therapeutics Products Bill to Parliament here.

We are thankful to Sam who leant his support with a statement to the ALLG. Sam had to go to Sydney (Australia) for treatment of his aggressive form of Hodgkin lymphoma last year, treatment he could not get at home in NZ. Not everyone has the ability to do so. Equitable access to clinical trials is essential for all New Zealanders. The right to health is a basic human right.

Advocacy is an important part of the ALLG’s mission for better treatments, better lives; along with our clinical trials aiming for cure. Learn how you can help our mission: https://www.allg.org.au/support-us/

If you are interested in participating in a clinical trial, speak with you doctor and visit ALLG’s Current Clinical Trials list and see Frequently Asked Questions about participating in a clinical trial and learn more here about getting involved in clinical trial research.

For five decades now, our cooperative group, the ALLG has been bringing together blood cancer experts from across Australia and New Zealand to volunteer their time and run clinical trials to change the way blood cancers – leukaemia, lymphoma and myeloma – are treated.

Did you know that our not-for-profit, the ALLG, has contributed to what are now standard treatments for some blood cancers and continues to drive change for greater access to new and more effective therapies for patients? As a registered charity, 100% of donations go to our clinical trials’ program. Find out some of the ways you can support this mission for better treatments, better lives for patients with blood cancer. Learn more here.

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