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<p>With the aim of improving the lives of all those affected by a rare disease, the
United Kingdom Government published <em>The UK Strategy for Rare Diseases</em> in
2013, a high-level framework containing 51 commitments which sets out a seven-year
strategic vision from 2013-2020. A copy of the Strategy is attached. The Government
is committed to implementing the Strategy’s commitments and has, in January 2018,
published two implementation plans setting out its actions for England. Copies of
the Department’s <em>The UK Strategy for Rare Diseases: Rare Diseases implementation
plan for England</em> and NHS England’s <em>Implementation Plan for the UK Strategy
for Rare Diseases</em> are attached.</p><p>The Government has not made any assessment
of differences in access to medicines for the treatment of rare diseases or on the
available number of treatments between England, the devolved administrations and economically
similar countries in Europe.</p><p>With regard to the Government’s assessment of the
sustainability of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) appraisal
process for rare disease medicines that do not meet the highly specialised technology
criteria, patients with rare diseases in England benefit from the same NHS Constitution
right to clinically and cost-effective medicines as patients with more common conditions.
NICE has recommended a number of medicines for the treatment of rare diseases through
its technology appraisal and highly specialised technology evaluation programmes which
are now routinely available to National Health Service patients in line with NICE’s
recommendations.</p>
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