There has been a focus on health for me this week in the House and I was delighted to meet a range of organisations campaigning on health issue, ranging from Type 1 diabetes, Friedreich’s Ataxia, PICA and the Royal College of Radiologists who were in Westminster for their annual conference.
I don’t often make this column personal, but back in 1992 my uncle died from Friedreich’s Ataxia, and this week I heard a great deal more about the condition, and that his late onset Ataxia was very unusual. I met two 15 year old girls, both living with Ataxia and heard how desperate they and their families are for a streamlined system for drug approval. That is exactly the same argument around MND drugs, there are new and innovative treatments out there, that can slow down the progression of disease, but because the conditions are relatively rare it is hard to hit the necessary number of trials, and the approval process remains very clunky.
Of course I appreciate the drugs are expensive, but it is impossible to sit in front of a pair of clever, strong young women and not be moved by their situation, and not to agree that more needs to be done to find first treatments and then a cure. I saw at first hand in my family the cruelty of ataxia, first robbing mobility, speech and ultimately taking someone’s life far too young.
The Royal College of Radiologists conference was a wonder of really clever science, and looking at how AI can and does speed up diagnosis. We talked about prostate cancer, breast cancer and strokes, and how AI can accurately identify and prioritise cases, and how that can save time for patients and costs to the NHS. I know there are many worries about AI, and I am sure people are right to have legitimate concerns, but there are many applications for it where it can be of a real benefit.
This weekend is the Mayor’s picnic and Rotary Duck Race in the Memorial Park and we are headed for another mini-heatwave. I hope that means a big turnout for one of the fabulous events we have in the Town annually.