An eight-year-old girl penned this heartbreaking letter to MPs asking why a life-saving cancertreatment isn’t free, after a family friend was diagnosed with the disease.
Daisy Wald, from Bridgend, couldn’t understand why cancer drugs aren’t available on the NHS in Wales but were free in England.
When her mum’s friend Carolyn was told she was terminal, Daisy set about writing a letter to her Vaughan Gething AM , Cabinet Secretary for Health, Wellbeing and Sport, urging him to provide treatment to patients.
Carolyn was diagnosed with breast cancer while pregnant with her youngest daughter, Mira, in 2015, reports Wales Online .
The mum-of-two had to undergo chemotherapy while pregnant to shrink the tumour, and had a mastectomy after her daughter was born.
Less than two months later, Carolyn was given the devastating news that the cancer had spread to her liver and lung – and was now terminal.
She started an online petition to raise money for life-saving drugs not available on the NHS in Wales, and has raised more than £60,000.
But with one drug alone costing more than £5,000 every three weeks, she needs to raise nearly £100,000 more to pay for a year’s worth of treatment.
When Carolyn’s friend’s daughter, Daisy, heard about her predicament, she decided to take matters into her own hands.
Daisy’s mum Sarah said she was making Christmas cards in the kitchen to raise money when the little asked what she was doing.
Sarah said: “She knows all about Carolyn – we’re an open family. When I said drugs aren’t free in Wales, she couldn’t get her head around it.
“She asked what she could do, and I told her to write a letter to the Government and handed her the paper. We sent it in the post, but haven’t heard anything back.”
In the letter, Daisy writes: “Dear the Government.”
“Why are the cancer tablets lots of money?
“It’s not fair because in England the tablets are free. Why did you choose to make the tablets cost?
“It is not fair for people who have some cancer in Wales. It’s very sad for me and my mum because my mummy’s friend Carolyn has cancer. She had it when she was pregnant and had a baby. Then she was fine.
“But soon after she had cancer again and she had lots of treatment. But she also needs those tablets so will you please make them free.”
Sarah said Daisy had always been a thoughtful child and wanted to change things one step at a time.
She said: “She’s a very thoughtful young lady – a sensitive little soul. If people aren’t well, she thinks about things quite a lot.”
But the letter is just a start for this budding politician as she’s now hoping to start a petition at her school in Coychurch, Bridgend.
Daisy, who is in Year 4, said; “I think it’s sad for people with cancer. It’s not fair for people in Wales.
“I want it to change.”
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “We cannot comment on individual cases or the decisions or opinions of clinicians.
“We have a proud record of making sure patients have access to evidence-based, clinically and cost-effective treatments, not just cancer.
“The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) makes decisions about which treatments should be available within the NHS based on clinical and cost effectiveness.
“Our All-Wales Medicines Strategy Group (AWMSG) is an extra process that delivers even quicker access to medicines that are proven to be effective.
“Where a treatment is not routinely available in the Welsh NHS, and a patient’s clinical circumstances indicate they are likely to gain significantly more benefit from a treatment than would normally be expected, clinicians may apply through the Individual Patient Funding Request (IPFR) process, on the patient’s behalf.”
[“source-smallbiztrends”]
