Minister accepts Equal Access petition

Health Minister Jim Wells today  (7th October 2014) accepted a petition in support of Cancer Focus NI’s Equal Access Campaign.

The campaign calls for funding to provide access to cancer drugs similar to that provided for by the English Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF).

Health Minister Jim Wells accepts the Cancer Focus NI petition from Chief Executive Roisin Foster

Accepting the petition on behalf of the Executive, Mr Wells said: “I want to thank Cancer Focus NI for bringing the Equal Access petition to Stormont. Let me stress that I empathise entirely with patients undergoing treatment for cancer and other serious conditions and want to assure them that my aim is to ensure they receive the most effective treatment possible.

“Due to the concerns raised by patients, survivors, charities, colleagues in the Assembly and the pharmaceutical industry that the current process around access to specialist drugs could be improved, and to the calls for the establishment of a cancer drugs fund, my predecessor began an evaluation of the Individual Funding Request (IFR) process which governs access to unapproved specialist drugs. I endorse this measure.

“The evaluation will take full account of the measures that other devolved administrations are considering in their approach towards access to specialist drugs.

“The Chief Medical Officer is leading on this work which will be completed by the end of the year. I want to be absolutely sure that patients have the best access to the right drugs and I will be looking closely at the results of the evaluation.”