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Letter
to The Argus: Supporting
photodynamic therapy treatment (PDT)
As a former Director of the East Sussex Association for the
Blind, I am
appalled at the Government refusing to explain why there is a delay in providing
photodynamic therapy treatment (PDT) for the "wet" form of age related
macular degeneration. The National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE)
approved the use of PDT 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.
It was this Labour Government who brought in NICE
saying that it would improve the quality of health care because
treatments would be evaluated for their effectiveness. So once the
institute has made a decision, why aren't the patient's being treated? The
cost of the treatment, using a laser and chemical, costs £900 a time, the bill
for treating 2,800 patients would be £2.5 million. With all the money the
Government claim is going into the NHS where has it all gone? I agree with
the RNIB who say: "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."
Link to East Sussex
Association for the Blind site 
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