antallergy.org

THU 09 JUN 2005

Hansard
House of Assembly

Mrs NAPIER (Question) - My question is to the Minister for Health and Human Services. Minister, I understand that you have received correspondence to advise you that jack jumper immunotherapy treatment at the Royal Hobart Hospital will discontinue for the original trial participants at this end of this year without additional funding, as research funds will be exhausted. The doctor responsible, Dr Blackman, is no longer able to commit his own voluntary time, of which he has given a considerable amount, given the continual lack of response by the Government to this matter. Minister, are you aware that these patients have had three years of immunotherapy treatment? However, if treatment is discontinued, they face a 10 per cent risk of redeveloping their allergy, which could in fact cost them their lives, let alone the fact that there are many Tasmanians who would like to access this immunotherapy program but who are unable to do so because of lack of funding. Minister, are you aware of the Liberals’ position on this? Do you agree that it is not a costly exercise to fund immunotherapy, including extending it? Will you now commit in a bipartisan way to supporting the continuation of immunotherapy treatments or will you let this ground-breaking Tasmanian program simply wither and die?

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