Please sign and share this petition asking Pharmac to continue supply  of Estradot patches in New Zealand.

My life, like so many women's, was turned upside down when menopausal symptoms hit. The experience of trying to function amidst brain fog, anxiety, and pain was nothing short of a Herculean task.
Thoughts of giving up my busy job  that I love, isolating myself from everyone and everything and even ending my life were overpowering.  Then I started ESTRADOT HRT patches 5 years ago and I got my life back on track.  

ESTRADOT HRT brand is the gold star, most preferred HRT patch brand for many women as it actually works!! 

HRT supplies estrogen to the body when women start transitioning towards menopause, as their own estrogen depletes this creates inflammation in the body which causes the many symptoms that disrupt our lives and can also be damaging long term,

HRT also helps support the cardiovascular  system from heart disease, the brain from dementia and the joints from osteoporosis.

During the past  3 -4 years we have had limited supply available due to increased demand for HRT and so 2 new brands were then introduced … 2 brands that many women struggled with side effects  & bad reactions , having to switch between the 2 brands for many months now as ESTRADOT  hasn’t always available consistently due to the increase in global demand. Ladies have had to cut and stick  patches together to make up their dose sparingly and take what they could get a from the   pharmacy each month not knowing what it will be next.

Pharmac have now announced that from 1 December 2025, the only brand of HRT oestrogen patch that will be funded in New Zealand will be the Mylan brand. Viatris, the supplier of Mylan won the tender and have been awarded the exclusive supply agreement for oestrogen patches in New Zealand, meaning that Estradot will no longer receive any funding.

Pharmac have ignored our pleas and constant feedback that these other brands are just not of the same quality as ESTRADOT. 
While a few women can use the Mylan brand they are still having to increase their dose  to get enough and the rest just can’t use them at all and go without.

This decision to tender for 1 brand only was made without any consultation to any  of the menopause women support groups for menopause , menopause specialists or in fact any women  patients or practitioners at all. 

This means that NZ  women have gone from access to 3 brands of HRT patches & a gel funded to just one inferior HRT patch & 1 gel only that will be funded. 
The  lack of absorption &  side effects , the drop to our mental health and the stress on our bodies can be dangerous and crippling.

If we want ESTRADOT then we will likely have to pay $30-40 a month to  and that’s if it’s even made available to us again as Pharmac took the tender option & this can rule other brands out completely if we don’t have the numbers they just won’t supply us. 

ESTRADOT is now available and some  Pharmacys are choosing not get it in  or holding it for certain people only which isn’t fair as we all should have access to it. 

Those that can’t pay the $30-40 a month will suffer the most and ultimately it will be the end for their HRT journey so they risk living with ongoing issues to their  mental and physical health.. and potentially unaliving!

Moreover, the medical community's paltry provision of information and support was & still is as outdated as it is limited. Being compelled to advocate for my own health and wellbeing in the face of such adversity has brought me here. My mission? To fight for all the women suffering in silence and to pave the way for the future generations who will face the same challenge. 

Menopause is not a niche issue. It's a universal reality affecting 50% of the world's population. In New Zealand alone, over 200,000 women experience severe menopause symptoms each year. Yet, sustainable and effective relief, like estrogen patches, remain inaccessible due to the cruel constraints of limited funding ("Menopause: New Zealand’s silent epidemic", RNZ).

We urge the New Zealand government to increase funding for Pharmac to include ESTRADOT This the enables more procurement and distribution of the right estrogen patches ESTRADOT for symptomatic relief in menopausal women. Each woman's physiology is unique, and as such, we need a variety of better-funded Menopause Hormone Therapy (MHT) options. The 'one-size-fits-all' approach to treatment is antiquated and woefully insufficient. If we don’t  have  funding for more than one we will lose options 
and we need options , we need ESTRADOT!!! 

Please support the call for funding for ESTRADOT  the one HRT patch that actually works for many. Together, we can ensure no woman has to endure the unnecessary hardship that comes with underfunded healthcare. Sign the petition and advocate for the hormonal health and wellbeing of all women. Your signature can make a world of difference.