Edinburgh West MP Christine Jardine has urged for the end of postcode lottery brain tumour treatment which sees patients missing out on taking medication which could prolong their lives based entirely on where they live. Christine has been supporting constituent Archie, a 23-year-old elite athlete from Edinburgh training for the Commonwealth Games and Olympic trials. He has been diagnosed with aninoperable IDH-mutant low-grade glioma (LGG), a rare form of brain tumour that disproportionately affects younger people.

There is a new, highly promising treatment, Vorasidenib, which is currently available to eligible patients through a Named Patient Programme. It is being administered free of charge in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde and NHS Tayside, with the only NHS cost being routine follow-up blood testing and scans.

Speaking in a House of Commons debate today (8th May) on the research and treatment of brain tumours, Christine said:

“I wish there was no need for us to have this debate, but sadly there is.

“It seems the cruellest of things for there to be a drug available, yet he cannot have it.

“I understand the pressures on finances, on resources, but that does not mean, and cannot mean, the limit on our ambition for what we can do for those who are suffering.

“We are talking about saving money when we should be talking about saving lives.

Jardine calls for the end of postcode lottery brain tumour treatment