Fife MSP Claire Baker has today welcomed news that the cancer drug abiraterone has finally been approved for use for prostate cancer sufferers in the Kingdom.

The drug was originally only available to those who are in the advanced stages of prostate cancer in England and Wales but after lobbying by groups such as Prostate Cancer UK and MSPs including Claire Baker the drug was finally approved by the Scottish Medicines Consortium in August.

The drug, however, was still to be made available in Fife as late as October as NHS Fife were “bound be the decision taken by NHS Lothian on behalf of the Cancer Network.”

Claire Baker said:

“I welcome the news from NHS that abiraterone will finally be available in the Kingdom. It’s important that doctors have the full range of treatments at their disposal when dealing with a patient.

“Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer and it was vital that we addressed the disparities between the drug being available to cancer suffers south of the border but not in Scotland.

“Thankfully this has now been rectified and the availability of aribaterone will lead to sufferers of prostate cancer living a better quality of life.”