NHS Wales launches £80m treatment fund

Wales' health secretary Vaughan Gething has announced a new £80 million treatment fund, which aims to promote speedier access to new medicines.

Health boards in Wales will be given an extra £16 million a year to ensure new drugs become available within a maximum two months of being approved as cost-effective for use in the NHS.

The news follows concerns that health boards have been too slow and inconsistent in finding money for new treatments after they have been given the go-ahead.

While England and Scotland have established funds to extend access to new medicines for specific conditions, the Welsh drugs fund will aim to increase access to a range of different treatments.

Getting commented: "Our new treatment fund will deliver swift access to innovative new medicines to support people with life-threatening conditions in Wales.

"New medicines and treatments are being discovered, developed and tested on an almost weekly basis, offering the hope of a cure or a better quality of life for people with a range of life-threatening illnesses."

Welcoming the news, Rick Greville, director of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry Wales (ABPI), said: "There have been big challenges for health boards in terms of their planning and their ability to horizon-scan these medicines.

"I think today will remove some of the obstacles to the financial challenges that health boards found."

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This story was first published in digitalhealth.net

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