Drugs funding boost

Stop press

After a long Arthritis Care led campaign Shaun Woodward MP, the Northern Ireland minister with responsibility for Health, has announced a major boost in spending for anti-TNF drugs.

£6 million made available

Speaking before an audience of health staff and patients at Musgrave Park Hospital, the Minister said the extra £6m would ensure that the 520 people currently on the waiting list would be started by March 2008. At that stage about 900 people in Northern Ireland would be taking drugs for arthritis conditions, more than doubling the 400 now receiving them.

Impact of the campaign

Making the announcement Mr Woodward paid tribute to the work of Arthritis Care and ARMA, and noted the impact of the campaign which had influenced his decision. 'I have had too many letters from patients telling their stories of huge anxiety. These patients are in pain and today I want to help alleviate their difficulty,' said Mr Woodward. The Minister also spoke movingly about his own late mother’s experience with rheumatoid arthritis.

Big step forward

Steve McBride, policy and campaigns manager for Arthritis Care in Northern Ireland, spoke on behalf of the arthritis community at the Minister’s press conference, commenting later: ‘This is a big step forward in Northern Ireland, where the waiting list for anti-TNF’s has been much longer than in the rest of the UK.

Not the end of the story

It isn’t the end of the story, because as the Minister himself said there will still be a waiting list for these powerful and effective drugs and people still face agonising delays. But the new funding – which amounts to about £4 for every man woman and child in Northern Ireland – should bring us into line with the rest of the UK and will bring hope to many people who are in pain and distress from severe rheumatoid arthritis.'

Campaigning for five years

Arthritis Care's senior policy and campaign manager Martin Jones said: ‘Campaigners in Northern Ireland have been been campaigning on this issue for more than five years now. All who have been involved can take satisfaction from this outcome, and other campaigners can take encouragement for the success of their own campaigns.’