A West Coast father battling blood cancer has been forced to leave New Zealand to access life-saving treatment overseas, as leading doctors warn Kiwi patients are falling behind the rest of the world.
It comes as a group of expatriate New Zealand haematologists issued an open letter to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and health ministers, warning that chronic underfunding of Pharmac is contributing to worse survival rates for New Zealanders with blood cancers.
Kiwi-Australian haematologist, Professor Judith Trotman, said delays in funding modern medicines were having a direct impact on patient outcomes.
“NZ is not funding drugs, with a cascading effect on patient lives, doctors’ morale and drug development. Patients are being lost to their disease, and doctors are lost overseas.” Trotman said.
The letter, signed by 35 expatriate blood cancer specialists and researchers, says many New Zealanders are unable to access modern targeted therapies that have transformed survival rates internationally over the past two decades.
Some patients, the doctors say, are travelling overseas for treatment, if they can afford it.
For Greymouth father of four, Tawhai Reti, that has now become his reality.
Reti was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2019 at the age of just 29.
The aggressive blood cancer has since required years of intensive treatment, including two stem cell transplants, chemotherapy and ongoing medication.
But in 2025, the family were told there were no further treatment options available in New Zealand.
His wife, Lani Reti, says the decision to leave their home and children behind to seek care in Australia was devastating.
“Massively let down would be my first point,” she said.
“It has been an incredibly long journey for Tawhai and I. We are going into the 7th year of his disease and holding out as long as we could to stay home with our whānau, with our children, with our supporters. But at the end of the day, we had no choice but to come here. My husband was dying right in front of my eyes. And if we didn’t come here, he wouldn’t be with us right now.” She said.
Tawhai and Lani travelled to Australia earlier this year so he could access treatment not available to him in New Zealand, including the drug daratumumab, which Lani had previously campaigned to have funded at home.
She says the care he has received there has given the family renewed hope.
“These doctors here have saved my husband’s life. They are absolute heroes in our eyes.”
But the move has come at a high cost.
The couple have been separated from their four children, who remain in Greymouth, while Tawhai continues treatment overseas.
“Today has been six weeks that we haven’t been with our tamariki, and it has been probably the hardest part about this journey,” she said.
“Our children have always been incredibly involved in their dad’s care and treatment… not being able to have them be right by his side is not just detrimental for them, but also for him, for his wairua, for his spirit.”
The financial toll has also been significant.
Unable to work while supporting Tawhai overseas, the family has relied on community fundraising to help cover everyday costs - with whānau setting up pages to help them.
While Tawhai continues treatment in Australia, Lani says she will soon have to return home to work so they can keep up with their household expenses.
“I wish I could be in two places at once. I wish we had the funds to support both, but unfortunately, we don’t.”
Doctors behind the open letter illustrate that Tawhai’s experience reflects a growing divide in cancer care between New Zealand and other developed countries.
Blood cancers cannot be prevented with public health measures or surgically removed, meaning access to modern medicines is critical.
Yet the doctors warn many therapies considered standard treatment overseas remain unavailable here, leaving patients with fewer options and pushing some to seek treatment abroad.
For the Reti whānau, Australia has provided a lifeline.
Tawhai recently received his first dose of daratumumab after intensive chemotherapy and is now hoping the treatment will put him into remission.
“If we didn’t come here, my husband would not be here anymore. He would have already died,” Lani said.
“It was go hard or not have my husband anymore.”
Despite the hardship, she says they remain grateful to the doctors who treated Tawhai in New Zealand and hope sharing their story will help drive change for other families.
“We really appreciate everything that they did for us in New Zealand,” she said.
“And although we had to leave and come to Australia, I hope that this can make change so they are able to take care of their patients properly.”
Yet her message to politicians is blunt.
“Pull your head in. Please take this open letter seriously to immediately act and address the issues that need to be addressed.”
“There are people dying every single day unnecessarily.”
Government responds, “ We will eventually fund all the things. ’
Associate Health Minister David Seymour, who is responsible for Pharmac, says he has made significant increases to their funding.
“We’ve increased medicine funding by $600 million a year since I’ve been in office. We’re also taking budget bids every year to get more money to fund medicines, and if we give Pharmac enough money, they will eventually fund all the things that people would like to see funded and that people need funded.” Seymour said.
He puts Tawhai Reti down to having to travel to Australia for treatment, as the country is wealthier than Aotearoa.
“When they have more medicines that save lives, that’s when economic growth starts to really matter to a lot of people. And so it’s critical we grow the economy, it’s critical we run Pharmac well. I’m committed to doing both those things.” He added.
However, Labour’s health spokesperson, Dr Ayesha Verrall, says it is unjust.
“It’s deeply unfair that National promised blood cancer patients they’ll never be forgotten before the election, but in Government, funding every other cancer treatment but these ones.” Dr Verrall said.
