Science is continually creating more and better treatments for cancer. These treatments are leading to more people living longer and in many cases making a full recovery from the disease. However new treatments can only bring benefits if they are freely available on the NHS. We are concerned that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), the body responsible for deciding which treatments are cost-effective enough to be available on the NHS, is increasingly saying no to new cancer treatments meaning that patients are unable to freely access them.
We are particularly worried about access to drugs for patients with rarer cancers. A number of these new treatments have been rejected for use on the NHS in the last year. This includes treatments for liver cancer, kidney cancer and leukaemia. We feel that is unfair that patients with rarer cancers who generally have fewer treatment options are unable to access effective treatments simply because they are more expensive. These drugs are often only more expensive in the first place due to being suitable for a smaller number of people. As such as part of our vote cancer support campaign we are calling for the next government to address this unfairness and reform the system to ensure people with rarer cancers are able to access clinically effective drugs. You can pledge your support for this by clicking here.
