Welsh cancer patients fight for drug equality

Two cancer patients are campaigning to get better drug treatment for sufferers in Wales.

David Powell, 54, from Barry, is being joined by fellow cancer patient Jayne Sullivan in an attempt to ensure Welsh prostate cancer sufferers get the same treatment as that offered to patients in England.

Mr Powell is taking his protest to the Welsh Assembly, where he will be standing outside the Senedd building holding a giant version of a letter from the Health Commission Wales, which said it cannot fund every treatment available.

The commission said that brachytherapy used to treat prostate cancer was beyond its budget and that other treatments are effective.

However, Mr Powell told the South Wales Echo: “This form of treatment – brachytherapy – is a low-dose form of radiotherapy and has been available for years in the UK but not in Wales.

“They are now telling other Welsh men in my situation they will not pay for prostate cancer patients to receive help in England – that’s a disgrace.”

The BBC reports that six patients have been authorised for treatment with brachytherapy after the service was suspended earlier in the year.