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Govt funding breaks “treatment drought” for hardto-treat heart failure

Ethical Strategies

Government funding breaks “treatment drought” for hard-totreat heart failure

A frst-of-its-kind medicine for heart failure caused by a stiff heart muscle is now subsidised by the Federal Government for hundreds of thousands of Australians.

From today (1 November), Jardiance® (empaglifozin 10mg) is available through the Pharmaceutical Beneft Scheme (PBS) for adults living with symptomatic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction – a condition with a fve-year survival rate similar to some cancers, and for which treatment options are extremely limited.

In people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, the heart becomes too stiff to properly fll with blood, compromising the supply of oxygen to the body. This debilitating condition accounts for around half of all chronic heart failure cases in Australia, leaving people fatigued, short of breath and at increased risk of being hospitalised and dying.

Professor Andrew Sindone, a cardiologist and heart failure expert from Sydney, said the PBS listing of Jardiance for heart failure with preserved ejection fraction “marks a turning point for a life-threatening heart condition which has proven incredibly hard to treat”.

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