Mesothelioma

Mr. Banton is a long standing campaigner for the drug Alimta to be listed on the government’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS). This week he received news that they would be taking his recommendation and – something he was very excited to hear about.

Mr Abbott said a re-elected coalition government hoped to have Alimta on the PBS in January. Labor has also supported the drug’s listing. Alimta became a campaign issue last week when Mr Abbott apologised after Mr Banton tried to present a 17,000-signature Alimta petition at the minister’s Sydney electoral office.

Mr Banton was furious that Mr Abbott was not there to receive it. Mr Abbott, who was in Melbourne, accused Mr Banton of a stunt, saying just because he was sick did not mean he was “necessarily pure of heart”. He later apologised, describing Mr Banton as a “thoroughly decent bloke” who was committed to helping sufferers of asbestos-related diseases.

Mr Abbott said he had relayed the good news to Mr Banton on Thursday. “He told me he was very happy,” he said while campaigning in Sydney. “He said I was welcome to tell any media that this long struggle to get Alimta onto the PBS for at least some mesothelioma sufferers has now been vindicated.”

Mr Abbott said full approval was subject to a “satisfactory” outcome of negotiations with the drug’s maker, the American multinational Eli Lilly, over the level of taxpayer subsidy. Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia president Barry Robson said he was “ecstatic” at the news. “We’re now asking the government in power to move quickly on the issue,” he said.

Asbestos Diseases Society executive director Leigh Hubbard called it a victory for common sense, saying Alimta was subsidised in almost every developed country including many less prosperous than Australia. The $20,000 cost for a six-month treatment cycle of Alimta is too expensive for many.

Mr Banton, who is currently receiving chemotherapy treatment, has previously attacked the “travesty of justice” surrounding Alimta. He says smokers who “willingly put rotten stinking fags in their mouths” receive subsidised access to Alimta when not all “meso” sufferers do.

A recent study found only half of Australians suffering the cancer are getting easy access to the drug, as state government subsidy schemes apply only in NSW and Western Australia, and workplace compensation applies only if the patients can prove they were exposed at work.