Visanne, also known by the generic name ‘dienogest’, will be listed on the PBS, making it the first endometriosis treatment in 30 years to be subsidised by the federal government. The annual cost of a course of daily tablets will be slashed from more than $800 to $380, or around $90 for pension and concession card holders.
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TVTranscript
00:00People struggling with endometriosis are now getting a helping hand.
00:07The government has added the drug Visarn to the pharmaceutical benefit scheme.
00:11For too long, too many women have been made to suffer in silence,
00:15have been told by many health care professionals, it has to be said, that this is normal.
00:20Endometriosis is where tissue similar to the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus.
00:25Having to wake up every single day in pain and just think this is how it is and how it has to be.
00:33Visarn helps to shrink that tissue and reduce pain, but it hasn't always been so readily accessible.
00:39It's also been distressing to see many women have to decline the treatment that they deserve because of cost.
00:47Now instead of paying around $750 a year, patients will only have to pay about $380 due to the government subsidy.
00:54If it can help a lot of other women the way it's helped me, even if it helps one woman, it will be worth it.
01:00Because honestly, it's been, as cliched, it is life changing.
01:03Endometriosis results in 40,000 hospital admissions each year.
01:08But experts say a lack of awareness means it takes more than six years on average for people to receive a diagnosis.
01:15I've also lived with the symptoms of endometriosis since I was 11 years old.
01:19I wasn't diagnosed until the age of 21.
01:23Doctors say the drug is effective in 80% of cases and could help hundreds of thousands of endometriosis sufferers.