I have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Health as well as the pharmaceutical company Roche to call for a deal to be made to deliver the life-prolonging drug Perjeta in Scotland.
Shockingly, women in England and Wales can currently get Perjeta on the NHS whereas in Scotland, they can’t.
National charity Breast Cancer Now have launched a campaign called “Perjeta Now” which is calling for Roche, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Medicines Consortium to put patients’ lives first and agree a deal to make Perjeta available at a price the NHS can afford. I joined with them outside Parliament to support their campaign.
I support the campaign by Breast Cancer Now and have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and the manufacturer of the drug to urge them to do what it takes to make this drug available for women in Scotland.
Perjeta is a life changing drug that has been the standard of care in England for over four years. Its benefits are extraordinary, offering women with incurable HER 2-positive secondary breast cancer nearly 16 extra months of life on average compared to other treatments.
Women across Mid Scotland and Fife with incurable secondary breast cancer are being cruelly denied more time to live, because they can’t get the drug Perjeta here in Scotland. This is an injustice, and needs to be rectified.
Negotiations are happening right now between NHS National Procurement and Roche on this drug. I have urged Roche to offer the drug at a fair price. It is simply not acceptable to do otherwise, women with secondary breast cancer don’t have time to lose. Women in Scotland need Perjeta now. I hope the manufacturers recognise this, and help deliver the life-prolonging drug these women need.
