BCAC would love you to show support for an intrepid couple who cycled from Dunedin to Parliament to garner support for a petition that would help improve the lives of women with breast cancer and people with other diseases.
The cyclists are Julian and Camilla Cox, whose daughter Rachael (19) has Cystic Fibrosis. The couple travelled on a tandem bicycle towing a 50kg coffin to raise awareness of the petition and gather signatures. When the couple arrived at Parliament, they had biked an astonishing 1,203 kilometres over three weeks.
The petition is from Patient Voice Aotearoa (PVA), which BCAC is an active member of, and calls for doubling PHARMAC'S budget and reforming the medicines buying agency. We strongly encourage you to sign the petition at www.sign4life.nz.
Locals turned out to support the couple by farewelling them from Christchurch on Thursday 16 January, and supporters welcomed them when they arrived at Parliament in Wellington on Wednesday 22 January.
You can read about Julian and Camilla’s journey on their website: https://rip.kiwi/.
BCAC Chair Libby Burgess says increasing the medicines budget and an independent review of PHARMAC are vital steps in improving healthcare for people with breast cancer and the wide range of other diseases that PVA represents.
Julian and Camilla say on their website: “We believe an increase in spending, at least to bring us into line with other OECD countries, is justified. Spending on medicines generally creates savings elsewhere (through fewer hospital admissions for example).
“Modern medicines also mean that people who otherwise might die without them can remain productive members of society paying tax and generating income for the country. Many of these medicines that are currently unfunded have benefits that vastly outweigh the costs.”
Media articles
Julian, Camilla and Rachael have been interviewed by media, and explain what is driving their passion for this cause in these articles.
Daughter’s plight spurs cycle odyssey, by Emma Perry, Otago Daily Times, 3 January 2020
Otago couple cycling with a coffin to Parliament in appeal for treatment funding, One News, 4 January 2020
