Access to treatment ‘must be standardized for all Union patients’

Date:24/07/03

By Martin Banks

A LEADING patient advocacy group has called for "more equal" access to medical treatment across the European Union.

The European Multiple Sclerosis Platform says there are currently discrepancies in the availability of some types of treatment in member states.

Secretary-General Christoph Thalheim cites, as an example, the availability of Beta Interferon, a drug used for treating multiple sclerosis (MS) sufferers. It has only recently become available to patients in EU countries.

The drug, said to reduce the frequency and severity of MS attacks or relapses, is still denied to thousands of the 400,000 people who have MS across the EU. In some countries, such as Germany, it is widely available while in others, such as Greece, it is not.

MS sufferer Louise McVay, 31, from Loughborough in the UK, petitioned the European Parliament in 2001 when she was being denied the drug.

"I know the depths of frustration those people feel as they fear their condition may have progressed too far for them to qualify for treatment. Their numbers will increase with the accession of ten new members to the EU," she said.

Her comments were echoed by Thalheim, whose group represents MS sufferers in 29 countries. He said: "The inequity of care for people with MS across Europe stands in stark contrast to the Union's values of human rights and non-discrimination. It also raises important issues around the general access to treatment for patients of all conditions, not just MS."

The European Multiple Sclerosis Platform has called upon the EU to ensure 'more equal' access to medical treatment for European citizens

http://www.ms-in-europe.org http://www.ms-in-europe.org

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