Letter to the Argus 19th May 2004.
I welcome
the that Brighton and Hove Primary Care Trust has been given £267,000 to fund
treatment for patients with age-related macular degeneration (The Argus May
17). This is something I have been campaigning for, for sometime, and
Michael Howard has asked questions in the House of Commons on this issue.
As
a former Director of the East Sussex Association for the Blind, I was appalled
that the delay brought about by the Labour Government occurred.
The National
Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE) approved the use of photodynamic
therapy treatment in September 2003. Macular degeneration is the most
common cause of blindness in the elderly and results from the overgrowth of
capillaries in the retina. This distressing condition effects 250,000
people in the UK, but only 5,000 -7,000 a year are thought to benefit from
treatment with PDT. This is simply not good enough, and I
really do hope that this extra funding will make a difference.
It is endemic of this Government though that they had to be forced into taking action. It was the embarrassment of campaigns such as the RNIB who said: "The Government are dragging their feet and have absolutely no excuse in still not allowing PDT treatment to be made available on the NHS. There is no shortage of doctors that we are aware of who could provide treatment. On the contrary, we know of 50 centres around the country that can provide people with treatment who otherwise may go blind. The situation as it stands is a sham." I welcome the fact that common sense has prevailed and patients will at long last receive the treatment and support they desperately need.
Mike
Weatherley