Health Watch: Wellness, Research & Healthy Living Tips
- First drug to improve walking now available on the NHS in England.
- More than 120,000 people live with multiple sclerosis in England.
- Around 5,000 people a year will be eligible based on walking difficulty extent.
- Patients receive up to a one-month trial; only those showing clear benefit can continue treatment.
- Prof Frankie Swords and the MS Society say the pill could be life-changing, boosting independence and employment.
Aysen Slack, 65 and from Eastbourne, chose to pay privately for the pills once she heard about them.
She said fampridine was “working well for me” but came at a “significant expense and I could not keep doing that forever” so she had to stop.
Slack said it was “great news” the drug was coming to the NHS and she “would definitely like to try” again.
“My mobility has decreased a lot and even in my flat I have to use sticks now,” she said, “it would make a huge difference to my life if I were able to improve my walking.”
More than 120,000 people live with MS in England. However, only around 5,000 people a year will be eligible – based on the extent of their walking difficulties.
Patients will try the medicine for up to a month and only those showing “clear benefit” will be able to continue taking it.
Prof Frankie Swords, the NHS national medical director, said: “Walking difficulties can have a huge impact on the freedom and independence of people with MS, so this signal-boosting pill could be life-changing for thousands of patients.
“Even a modest improvement could mean getting around the house more easily, going out with greater confidence and living more independently.”
Ceri Smith, from the MS Society, said they were “delighted” by the news as the drug could be “life-changing” for many, allowing people to “live more independently or stay in employment”.
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