Haemophilia Recombinant Clotting Products (Hansard, 12 February 2003)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health (Lord Hunt of Kings Heath)

We are pleased to announce today that the Government have invested an extra £88 million over the next three years to provide recombinant clotting factors for haemophilia patients in England. Haemophilia patients up to age 21 are already receiving these products. The extra funding will extend the availability of recombinant clotting factors to adult patients.

Over the next few months the Government will then work with key stakeholders, including the Haemophilia Society, clinicians and primary care trusts, to design a programme for rolling out access to recombinant products to older age groups. This roll out will take time to achieve because of the large volume of product involved. However, by March 2006 the vast majority of haemophilia patients should be receiving recombinant clotting factors.

We have taken a number of steps to make clotting factors used to treat people with haemophilia as safe as possible. We hope this extra £88 million will ultimately give all haemophilia patients access to synthetic treatments where these are recommended by clinicians.

We would like to take this opportunity to commend my noble friend Lord Morris of Manchester on his excellent support and compassion for haemophilia patients and their families. His work as President of the Haemophilia Society has been unstinting and we admire his determination to achieve the very best for its members.