Australian women will be able to access a new range of medications through the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. Under the changes, some people will also be able to receive a fertility therapy sooner - one that's currently only available in later IVF cycles.
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00:00Felina Shahadi feels lucky to have her bubbly one-year-old boy in her arms.
00:07It's definitely worth it.
00:09Yes?
00:10Yeah, it's worth it.
00:12After struggling to fall pregnant, the fertility scientist became a fertility patient.
00:18Her first round of IVF was not successful.
00:21I think it took a bit of an emotional and physical toll on me.
00:24For her second cycle, she used a treatment called Percoveris.
00:28Today she joined the Health Minister at her workplace
00:31as he announced it would soon be available to more women
00:34following recommendations by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Council.
00:38This is a fertility treatment used during IVF
00:42for women with low levels of a specific reproductive hormone.
00:46From April 1, Percoveris will be available to eligible patients
00:50from the start of their IVF journey
00:53and they'll be reimbursed for twice as much.
00:56One month later, endometriosis medicine ReEQUO will also be added to the PBS
01:02along with oral contraceptive Solyndra,
01:04a move the Minister claims will benefit around 100,000 women.
01:09All of those women will have that pill available to them
01:12for as little as $25 a year if they're on a concession card.
01:16The Health Minister has not yet revealed how much these latest changes will cost,
01:21saying further details will be included in the upcoming federal budget.
01:25This builds on a $573 million women's health package
01:29that Labor recently announced and the Coalition quickly matched.
01:33We are very keen to continue to prioritise women's health
01:36as part of the Coalition's health platform going forward.
01:38Both sides keen to secure the votes of Australian women
01:41before all voters head to the polls.