Hello Name Tag Sticker on White The Pharmaceutical Management Agency (known as Pharmac) is a crown entity that decides, on behalf of New Zealandâs district health boards (DHBs), which medicines and pharmaceutical products are subsidised for use in the community and public hospitals (I use the words âmedicinesâ and âdrugsâ interchangeably below). DHBs are currently responsible for the provision of community and hospital healthcare for defined geographic populations (the Government intends to abolish them on 1Â July 2022). Origins of Pharmac Pharmac was established in 1993 by the Jim Bolger led National government as the one sensible and sustainable structure when New Zealand embarked on an ideologically driven seven years of trying unsuccessfully to run its public health system as if it was a competitive business market. It was recognised that in order to have some level of leverage in negotiations for medicines and other products with overseas pharmaceutical companies (âBig Pharmaâ) in this market era then a central government agency was required.