Professor Gregor Coster, Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington: "We have to make sure people are getting access to the care that they need"

Sarah Fitt - Pharmac CEO: "We have to look at all the things waiting to be funded and what will work best for the wider community"

Sarah Fitt - Pharmac CEO: "There are other new medicines that are coming through that perhaps don't get the attention they deserve"

Dr Janice Wilson, Health Quality & Safety Commission: "We're very lucky in NZ to have an agency like Pharmac...evaluating what is best and affordable"

Sarah Fitt - Pharmac CEO: "It always comes back to the evidence, risks, benefits and other countries have used them first"

John Tamihere: "We've got a major change in cancer here....all it took was a white guy in Southland to raise the flag..."

Professor Gregor Coster, Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington: "The issue is we don't have enough nurses...we are not training enough nurses, we are not training enough midwives..."

Professor Gregor Coster, Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington: "Yes, we have shortages, we need to address them...we need to make sure we are training the right kind of people"

Professor Gregor Coster, Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington: "1600 Health coaches - where are they going to come from? Nurses, physios, OT's trained to deliver mental health services. We need to invest early to ensure we can deliver the health services needed"

Professor Gregor Coster, Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington: "I've been public in saying we have too many DHB's... they have 7 health boards in Wales...there are costs in management, IT, there are some economies of scale that can be achieved"

Dr Janice Wilson, Health Quality & Safety Commission: "I think DHB's need to engage in their communities..."

Dr Janice Wilson: "You can't have neuro-surgery on the kitchen table...sometimes you have to move to have the best care"

Ian Powell, Executive Director, Association of Salaried Medical Specialists: "why can we not have a national electronic patient system?"

Sarah Fitt: "there is a focus that DHB's equals hospitals and we forget about primary care, and rather than the whole system..."

John Tamihere: "we get more acknowledgement offshore than we do on shore here"

John Tamihere: "It's about the execution of the change...its about understanding why you should change"

Professor Gregor Coster, Faculty of Health, Victoria University of Wellington: "I think we haven't funded health in the way that we should have. I'm not convinced that 20 DHB's have got it wrong....we need to invest in health if we want to have the kind of health system we want"

John Tamihere: "how do you get people more invested (in DHB elections) other than get people to vote compulsorily"

John Tamihere: "fifteen percent of people under 30 vote"

Minister for Women Julie Anne Genter said period poverty - when a woman is unable to get sanitary products because of financial constrains - affects many women across the country - healthcentral.nz/government-pro…