Many of you will have seen the media coverage given to those brave women fighting breast cancer in Wales, and being denied the drug Kadcyla on the Welsh NHS, despite its potential to give years of quality life to those suffering.
Sadly, the four mothers highlighted by the BBC article this week are just one example of the many being let down so badly by the Welsh Labour Government in Cardiff Bay.
With my Welsh Conservative Assembly group colleagues, I have been repeatedly calling on the Welsh Government to provide the necessary funding for a Cancer Treatment Fund for Wales. More and more, we are seeing cancer sufferers in Wales having to cross the border to seek equivalent treatment in England, where patients have access to over 28 cancer drugs and treatments currently unavailable in Wales.
This situation is far from ideal, and the travelling so far for treatment is just not an option for some. It is clear that we need to end this appalling postcode lottery for access to life-extending medicines.
According to the Rarer Cancers Foundation, a Cancer Drugs Fund for Wales would cost just £3.3m per year, yet the extra time it could give to families across Wales is priceless.
The latest statistics by NHS Wales show that cancer incidences across Wales are rising, and the Welsh Government’s poor record on cancer is of real concern: on treatment target times, too, patients are being let down. A staggering 98 people newly diagnosed with cancer via the ‘urgent suspected cancer route’ did not start their treatment within the target time in June.
Shockingly, it has been 7 years since the last time the Welsh Government met this target, in 2008. Bearing in mind that the target time for definitive treatment is 62 days,this is simply not good enough.
Welsh Conservatives are firmly committed to seeing such treatments are available here in Wales and that the current inequality of access is ended once and for all. We have a petition that already has thousands of signatures and if you wish to sign also, please do not hesitate to call into my office at any time during opening hours.
The anxiety and stress caused to those diagnosed, their families and loved ones, at having to wait several months for treatment, cannot be ignored and we all deserve better.
With so many affected locally, this is where the incredible work of the many Cancer charities across Wales prove to be so invaluable.
One such charity is MacMillan, who do fantastic work to offer medical, emotional and financial support to cancer patients and their families across North Wales.
I shall be joining in with MacMillan for the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on Friday, 25th September 2015; 10am – 12:30pm at my office – 29 Madoc Street, Llandudno, LL30 2TL. This is an excellent fundraiser and an opportunity for you to come along and meet other cancer sufferers and also the volunteers from this amazing organisation, whilst enjoying a cup of tea or coffee and cakes within a friendly atmosphere.
I do hope that you are able to come along on this occasion.