Conservatives to allow more cancer drugs

[Jordy]

CANCER patients will no longer be denied groundbreaking drugs on the National Health Service if they are too expensive, according to a flagship Tory election pledge.

The Conservatives will set up an annual £200m fund to pay for treatments banned by the government’s drug approval agency, on cost grounds, but which are widely available in Europe.

David Cameron, the Tory leader, will also ensure that patients suffering from rare cancers, many of them children, are no longer denied potentially life-saving drugs because of an NHS technicality.

Some unusual childhood cancers respond well to medicines designed for other cancers, but patients are denied the drugs on the NHS because they have not been officially approved for their specific condition.http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article7086821.ece

Decent pledge by the Conservatives yesterday, something we'd all like to see I'm sure and can be done for so little.

Imagine a family member dying and knowing that their could be a cure but the NHS are unwilling to fund it because it's too expensive. That just isn't good enough.

[GommeInc]

If they do win, well, let's hope they actually keep to what they've said. I wouldn't hold my breath :P

[dbgtz]

I agree to the above considering the fact were in loads of debt diddity doo doo.

[-:Undertaker:-]

A good move, but what happens if the £200 million also dries up?

[dbgtz]

And where does this £200 million come from, his bum?

[Jordy]

And where does this £200 million come from, his bum?The treasury

Where do Labours policies on extra cancer drugs come from? Oh they don't.

[dbgtz]

Yes but how do we get the money there? Were already borrowing loads we can't borrow more :l

[Jordy]

Yes but how do we get the money there? Were already borrowing loads we can't borrow more :lTories have promised cuts and reorganisation of money currently spent. £200m really isn't that much to the treasury nor is it that much when it comes to saving lives. You can save between £6-10bn by cutting government bureaucracy, hence funding the NI policy.

[-:Undertaker:-]

Tories have promised cuts and reorganisation of money currently spent. £200m really isn't that much to the treasury nor is it that much when it comes to saving lives. You can save between £6-10bn by cutting government bureaucracy, hence funding the NI policy.

He may be saving £6 to £10 billion but while increasing things like Foreign Aid (which he has pledged to do) that money quickly goes nowhere, not to mention the fact nobody is talking about the giant elephant in the room which is that the debt is not just a few billion pounds, it is over £1 trillion.

Not one of the main parties has any solutions to this.