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The Pharmaceutical Management Agency, better known as Pharmac, is a New Zealand Crown entity that decides, on behalf of District Health Boards, which medicines and pharmaceutical products are subsidised for use in the community and public hospitals. Pharmac was created in 1993 as a response to the ever-increasing costs of pharmaceuticals. The agency's primary aim is to ensure that New Zealanders get the best possible health outcomes as is possible from pharmaceutical treatment with the limited amount of Government funding available. In 2013/14, Pharmac has a subsidy budget of approximately $795 million, which was used to subsidise 41.8 million prescriptions issued to 3.4 million New Zealanders.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Annual Review 2013 )〕 While initially responsible for community medicines only, Pharmac's role has been expanded to include all medicines used in DHB hospitals, and in preparation for the national management of medical devices. On 1 July 2012, the management of the national immunisation schedule, and assessment of new vaccines, transferred to Pharmac from the Ministry of Health. Pharmac's current governing legislation is the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000, specifically sections 46 to 53. As a Crown entity, the agency is responsible to the Minister of Health via its Board of Directors. ==Roles== Pharmac has four main roles: * Managing the New Zealand Pharmaceutical Schedule of about 2,000 Government-subsidised community pharmaceuticals * Promoting the best possible (or optimal) use of medicines * Managing the subsidy of medicines and some medical devices used in public hospitals * Managing the Named Patient Pharmaceutical Assessment (NPPA) policy (a mechanism for people to receive funded medicines not available through the Pharmaceutical Schedule) and other special access programmes. Pharmac uses several techniques to reduce the cost of medications. For example, where a medicine is off-patent and generic versions are available, Pharmac may tender out the right to be the sole subsidised brand for a fixed period of time (usually three years). This causes pharmaceutical companies to compete with each other, driving down prices and reducing the subsidy costs, freeing up funds to subsidise newer patented medicines. Another technique is reference pricing, in which Pharmac offers a fixed subsidy amount on a widely used medicine (e.g. the combined contraceptive pill), with the subsidy based on the cheapest brand, therefore causing pharmaceutical companies to compete with each other at the pharmacy counter.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Purchasing medicines )〕 In 2012/13, it was estimated that Pharmac spent just 15% of its budget subsidising medicines used by 84% of patients.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Annual Review 2013 )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Pharmac」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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