Equal Access to Cancer Drugs Campaign

Cancer Focus NI is calling on the public to pledge their support for Equal Access to cancer drugs for patients in Northern Ireland in a new campaign. There are currently 38 cancer drugs available to patients in England that are not readily available to patients in Northern Ireland. With the backing of 14 local charities, the Equal Access campaign aims to secure 10,000 pledges of support which will be delivered to Health Minister Edwin Poots at Stormont this autumn. To pledge your support for equal access to cancer drugs visit www.equalaccessni.org.

Pictured are (L-R) Roisin Foster, Cancer Focus NI with cancer patients Allister Murphy and Gary Vint.

Brian Morrison photography — Cancer Focus NI is calling on the public to pledge their support for Equal Access to cancer drugs for patients in Northern Ireland in a new campaign. There are currently 38 cancer drugs available to patients in England that are not readily available to patients in Northern Ireland. With the backing of 14 local charities, the Equal Access campaign aims to secure 10,000 pledges of support which will be delivered to Health Minister Edwin Poots at Stormont this autumn. To pledge your support for equal access to cancer drugs visit www.equalaccessni.org. Pictured are (L-R) Roisin Foster, Cancer Focus NI with cancer patients Allister Murphy and Gary Vint. Brian Morrison photography

Cancer Focus NI has launched the three month campaign with the support of 14 local charities. The campaign aims to secure 10,000 pledges of support via email, letters and postcards which will be delivered to Health Minister Edwin Poots at Stormont this autumn.

There are currently 38 cancer drugs available to patients in England that are not readily available to patients in Northern Ireland. Anyone who would like to pledge their support for equality of access for local patients should visit www.equalaccessni.org.

Cancer Focus NI has been a driving force in the campaign to overhaul the current system to fund life-extending cancer medicines here.

Chief Executive, Roisin Foster, said: “Cancer Focus NI has been concerned for some time that local cancer patients are being denied access to life-extending drugs that are currently available in England and Scotland, and will soon be available in Wales.

“The purpose of this campaign is to ensure that the most effective drugs will be made available to local cancer patients in their time of need.”