§ Mr. BurstowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the clinical guidelines on the use of beta-interferon recently published by the Association of British Neurologists. [91851]
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§ Mr. Denham[holding answer 19 July 1999]: The Association of British Neurologists (ABN) acknowledge the evidence that the efficacy of beta-interferon is only partial, moderate and not curative, and that their guidelines do not address issues of cost effectiveness.
The Department is likely to ask the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) for advice on the place of beta-interferon among the range of interventions and services available for multiple sclerosis sufferers. NICE would be expected to look at all relevant sources of evidence, which would naturally include the ABN guidelines.