That this House notes the importance of World Asthma Day on 6th May; praises the National Asthma Campaign for raising awareness of this condition, working to move asthma up the political and social agenda, educating the public about asthma, raising funds to help find a cure for the condition and for sponsoring this noteworthy campaign; wholeheartedly supports World Asthma Day, which this year will publicise the launch of the National Asthma Campaign's Ten Point Charter for the National Health Service, a programme outlining what people with asthma should be able to expect from the National Health Service; further notes that asthma affects over five million people in the United Kingdom of all ages and social backgrounds; further notes that, while improvements have been made in recent years in the management of asthma (borne out by declining hospitalisation and death rates at a time of increased prevalence), there are still areas of weakness which must be addressed by those who commission healthcare services; is concerned that 18 million working days are lost every year as a result of asthma, which consequently costs the NHS ??850 million per annum; commends the National Asthma Campaign for drawing up their Ten Point Charter for Change, which demonstrates clearly how the Government could both make a positive difference to the lives of people with asthma and reduce the overall costs of dealing with the condition to the National Health Service and the economy; and wishes World Asthma Day every success.

That this House notes the importance of World Asthma Day on 6th May; praises the National Asthma Campaign for raising awareness of this condition, working to move asthma up the political and social agenda, educating the public about asthma, raising funds to help find a cure for the condition and...

That this House notes with concern that many organisations, including Macmillan Cancer Relief, believe that funds supposedly ear marked for cancer services have failed to reach the frontline; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to ensure that mechanisms are developed to provide funding in a way which maximises direct benefit to patients and that best improves the quality of life for those with cancer.

That this House notes with concern that many organisations, including Macmillan Cancer Relief, believe that funds supposedly ear marked for cancer services have failed to reach the frontline; and calls upon Her Majesty's Government to ensure that mechanisms are developed to provide funding in a way which maximises direct benefit...

That this House is deeply concerned at the high incidence of osteoporosis in women and men over 50 years of age and the misery caused by this painful condition; pays tribute to the National Osteoporosis Society for its work; and calls on the Government to further improve public knowledge about prevention and treatment of osteoporosis.

That this House is deeply concerned at the high incidence of osteoporosis in women and men over 50 years of age and the misery caused by this painful condition; pays tribute to the National Osteoporosis Society for its work; and calls on the Government to further improve public knowledge about...

That this House congratulates the National Asthma Campaign for its continued fight to conquer asthma, a serious problem which deserves attention; notes new evidence that shows pollution can cause asthma; calls for a programme of research into the cause of asthma; further notes that the charity wants every person with asthma to have equal access to high quality care and treatment according to nationally agreed standards of care; and calls on the Government to make a clear statement about the priority it attaches to asthma, the incidence of which is three to four times higher in adults and six times higher in children than 25 years ago.

That this House congratulates the National Asthma Campaign for its continued fight to conquer asthma, a serious problem which deserves attention; notes new evidence that shows pollution can cause asthma; calls for a programme of research into the cause of asthma; further notes that the charity wants every person with...

That this House acknowledges the work of the British Thoracic Society and British Lung Foundation to show the huge health and economic burden of respiratory disease in the United Kingdom; is concerned that the Government is ignoring the health of patients with lung disease; and calls upon the Secretary of State for Health to introduce a national programme of care for respiratory disease.

That this House acknowledges the work of the British Thoracic Society and British Lung Foundation to show the huge health and economic burden of respiratory disease in the United Kingdom; is concerned that the Government is ignoring the health of patients with lung disease; and calls upon the Secretary of...

That this House notes the concerns of the Zito Trust that many patients with severe mental illness are being denied access to modern drugs which reduce the devastating side-effects of some older treatments and that there are huge regional variations in prescribing rates for the modern medicines; notes that NICE is currently appraising these modern medicines, but is forced by Government inappropriately to take affordability into account in doing so; further notes that widespread general concern amongst mental health professionals, users and carers that the Government is not delivering improvements in treatment; and urges the Government to take steps to ensure that mental health is a secure priority and that promised improvements are achieved in practice.

That this House notes the concerns of the Zito Trust that many patients with severe mental illness are being denied access to modern drugs which reduce the devastating side-effects of some older treatments and that there are huge regional variations in prescribing rates for the modern medicines; notes that NICE...

That this House expresses its concern at restrictions on the use of photodynamic therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration to those affected in both eyes; notes that this condemns thousands of people to blindness in one eye and increases the risk that injury or disease to the other eye could lead to blindness or severe visual impairment; notes that many patients will not be prepared to accept this situation and will therefore feel obliged to pay for treatment, thereby building a two-tier service; further notes that the existing difficulties in achieving early diagnosis and referral of this condition will be exacerbated by such guidance; and calls on the Government to intervene to ensure that this draft guidance is changed so that a patient affected in one eye may be treated, and to make a clear statement that there are no plans for treatment for other eye conditions such as cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy to be rationed in that it is available only to those affected in both eyes.

That this House expresses its concern at restrictions on the use of photodynamic therapy for wet age-related macular degeneration to those affected in both eyes; notes that this condemns thousands of people to blindness in one eye and increases the risk that injury or disease to the other eye could...

That this House deplores the decision by NICE in its latest consultation document to erect new barriers to the treatment of patients suffering from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by restricting modern treatment to those with pure classic lesions only, despite the clear finding of its own appraisal committee that photodynamic therapy improves the chance of avoiding loss of vision by at least 15 letters on a sight-test board over a period of two years; therefore considers the NICE recommendation that modern treatment is used for most patients only as part of ongoing or new clinical trials to be reckless, given that there are no such ongoing trials and that, in any event, to treat the control group in a new trial with placebos would be unethical; notes that patients are purchasing the therapy privately in order to try to ensure that they do not go blind; and calls on the Government to put an end to this NICE process and ensure that the 5000 mainly elderly patients affected each year by wet AMD receive the best available treatment.

That this House deplores the decision by NICE in its latest consultation document to erect new barriers to the treatment of patients suffering from wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by restricting modern treatment to those with pure classic lesions only, despite the clear finding of its own appraisal committee that...

That this House expresses its dismay at draft NICE guidance restricting the use of photodynamic therapy for wet age related macular degeneration to those affected in both eyes; notes that this condemns thousands of people to blindness in one eye and increases the risk that injury or disease to the other eye could lead to blindness or severe visual impairment; notes that many patients will not be prepared to accept this situation and will therefore feel obliged to pay for treatment thereby building a two-tier service; further notes that the existing difficulties in achieving early diagnosis and referral of this condition will be exacerbated by such guidance; further questions what evidence justifies the draft guidance that an eye with worse sight than 6/36 should not be treated; and calls on the Government to intervene to ensure that this draft guidance is changed so that a patient affected in one eye may be treated, and to make a clear statement that there are no plans for treatment for other eye conditions such as cataract, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy to be rationed in that it is available only to those affected in both eyes.

That this House expresses its dismay at draft NICE guidance restricting the use of photodynamic therapy for wet age related macular degeneration to those affected in both eyes; notes that this condemns thousands of people to blindness in one eye and increases the risk that injury or disease to the...

That this House congratulates the National Asthma Campaign for its continued fight to conquer asthma, a serious problem which deserves attention; notes new evidence that shows pollution can cause asthma and calls for a programme of research into the causes of asthma; further notes that the charity wants every person with asthma to have equal access high quality care and treatment according to nationally agreed standards of care; and calls on the Government to make a clear statement about the priority it attaches to asthma, the incidence of which is three to four times higher in adults and six times higher in children than 25 years ago.

That this House congratulates the National Asthma Campaign for its continued fight to conquer asthma, a serious problem which deserves attention; notes new evidence that shows pollution can cause asthma and calls for a programme of research into the causes of asthma; further notes that the charity wants every person...

That this House expresses its concern that the European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products, which fails to safeguard the future availability in the UK of safe herbal remedies, which are currently on sale, but exempt from licensing as medicines; notes that the proposed directive unreasonably requires 30 years' continuous medicinal usage to obtain a licence, unrealistically demands immediate compliance with technical requirements more suited to pharmaceuticals and excludes many safe and popular products; and calls on the Government to make vigorous efforts to secure amendments to the proposal so as to protect consumers' choice and the livelihood of many hundreds of health food retailers.

That this House expresses its concern that the European Commission has adopted a proposal for a Directive on Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products, which fails to safeguard the future availability in the UK of safe herbal remedies, which are currently on sale, but exempt from licensing as medicines; notes that the...