OK so anyone else want to do this?  I've been pondering the amount of time that some of us have waited for our Special Authority numbers - and lets face it, my child and others I know of would have waited in agony having constant reactions to breastmilk for weeks if it weren't for the kindness of friends with Neocate prescriptions for their own children.  This is just not on!!  Supplying formula directly contradicts the MOH's 'breast is best' policy, so maybe this is part of the reason the cogs take so long to turn on the issue? 

Anyway, I'm thinking of my next child, for whom I'll need Neocate if they react the same way Ella did to BM.  And I'm thinking of baby Greer and Aimee who've been put in a horrible and stressful situation all for lack of a bit of paperwork, and IgglePiggle who I imagine will need to call in a few favours should she not do so well with the BM, KA's wait for her SA#, and all the other babies on here who I don't know personally but I see there's a lot of people from this site picking up their Neocate scripts (or trying to anyway).  The funding for it here is good - it ends up costing the same as regular formula bottle-for-bottle, WINZ will come to the party even, lots of good stuff has been done for us, but it's high time that a system to get Neocate to babies urgently was worked out.  I'm going to contact Allergy NZ and find out if anyone is already lobbying the Ministry for this, and if they are, will lend my support.  If they're not, I'm keen to bite the bullet.  Does anyone else want to add their support (and their stories) to this?  I don't know yet exactly what kind of support it'll take - not financial, if that's what your're thinking.  But I'll find out - I'm a bit rusty on social policy processes now but hey, if I start I'm sure to find out! 

...AWESOME!!!  Emma that contact would be great, thanks.  Just PM me the guff!  I have a friend around the top of the MOH so I'll grill her for how to best go about working within their processes too. 

Okely Dokely... I've copied the submission that Allergy NZ is about to make to the Govt into the 'General chat' section.  There's instructions in there for how to add your support to the submission, and it's very easy - one wee e-mail with your name, DHB and contact details, saying that you support the submission.  If anyone is keen to collect signatures then please sing out asap as well (we've not got long to get them) as Aimee gave me the forms for them, so she and I both have some I'm sure we could be persuaded to part with

...I'm going door-knocking this week! 

Nope, you just e-mail them and state that you support the submission that Allergy NZ is making, include your name and address and which DHB you fall under.  No harm in copying the whole thing if you've already done that though.