§ Dr. BrandTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimates his Department has made of(a) the potential cost to the NHS of the drug accolate, (b) the number of people who currently use inhalers to control asthma, (c) the cost per dose of the drug and (d) the date when accolate will be available on prescription. [53750]
§ Mr. MilburnAccolate (Zafirlukast 20mg tablets) was launched by Zeneca on 20 July 1998. It is therefore already available on National Health Service prescription. It is licensed for the treatment of asthma. The dose is 20mg twice daily and costs £25.69 for 56 tablets. No estimate of the potential cost to the National Health Service has been made. The number of people in England with asthma sufficiently severe to require regular medical supervision is estimated to be around 2 million, of whom the majority will be using inhaler treatment for some part of the time.