A price that seems worth paying for MS sufferers

FINDING a remedy for multiple sclerosis (MS) has been a frustrating and dismaying business, prone to too many false dawns. But Autologous Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation (AHSCT) is a procedure that, according to recent international studies, has shown impressive results in treating the condition.

It is available in London, at a private clinic to which certain patients may be referred by the NHS in England. It is not available in Scotland, which has the highest MS rate in the world. Sufferer Lucy Clarke took matters into her own hands, spending a great deal of money to travel to Russia for treatment. That has been a great success, with most of her symptoms gone. She wants to send a friend for the same treatment. That Scottish sufferers cannot access the procedure in London is galling and it needs to be remedied. In the longer term, the provision of AHSCT in Scotland also needs to be investigated. The treatment may be unregulated, entail risks, and only suitable for certain sufferers. For all that, it still looks promising.

For the financially hard-headed, a further attraction is that the initial costs would pay for themselves in the long-term as the need for medication and treatment reduced. As an individual, Ms Clarke found it a price worth paying. As a country, we need to consider paying it for other sufferers with the condition.