Ask Candidates about Free Prescriptions

posted: 13/04/2010

One and a half years after Gordon Brown promised, here in Manchester, free prescriptions for people with long term conditions including cancer, the government has still not prepared new rules for Parliament to approve, apart from for cancer. There are many people with HIV who have to pay prescription charges. Some people are destitute, such as some migrants, and other people are on very low incomes. Some people are forced to choose between basics - eating and heating, and paying for treatment.

Help make sure all the election candidates know people care about free prescriptions are for people with long term conditions like HIV. Politicians are busy trying to win our votes, so it's the perfect time to make sure they know you want this pledge met by the next government - whoever they are.

Here are three easy things you can do to keep up the pressure:

Tell them on the doorstep - local candidates will be knocking on doors asking what matters to you in this election and aiming to convince you that they'll represent your views. Not many people will be talking about the unfair prescription charges for people with conditions like MS, Parkinsons disease and arthritis. Be original and tell them that you care about this issue. If you or a member of your family is directly affected by a long-term condition, you could tell them about it - that will really leave an impression.

Go to an election meeting - There will be question and answer sessions, known as hustings, in your area. There could even be a health-specific hustings. Ask the candidates whether they will support free prescriptions for people with long-term conditions. Promises of support that candidates make will be a matter of public record so make sure you take notes so we can hold them to their promises after the election. Check your local papers for details of election meetings with candidates.

Influence the leaders' TV debates - You can suggest a question for the three TV debates between Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg. Why not ask them whether they will support the health of millions of people with long-term conditions by scrapping charges for the prescriptions they need to stay well? Click on these links to submit your questions to ITV News , Sky News and BBC News.

Tell us what happens

Please tell the campaigners at THT if you get any commitments from candidates by emailing
Visit for more information the Prescription Promise campaign 

 

Keep Free Prescription Promise

posted: 21/01/2010

UPDATED 26 January - further information

Gordon Brown promised at the labour party conference in 2008 to end prescription charges for people with long term conditions like HIV. Over a year later people are still paying. Now the Prescription Charges Coalition of 20 charities has called on Gordon Brown to keep his promise.
 

‘Prescription charges are a deeply unfair burden on people with long-term conditions — those who need medicines the most for day-to-day quality of life', they say in their letter. ‘Patients should not be prevented by an NHS charge from accessing treatment to improve their quality of life.'
 

Time is short because of coming election

The charities said they hoped that the government would be able to find a way to implement this policy as soon as possible. Time is short – new regulations need to be tabled within the next month or the general election will shut the door to reform.
 

Join the campaign and email your MP

Email your MP here and back the campaign – it’s easy to help.

first source 
another report

Keep Free Prescription Promise

posted: 07/12/2009

A simple email now to your MP could help Gordon Brown keep his promise. Over a year ago, at the Labour Party 2008 conference, Gordon Brown pledged to scrap prescription charges for all people with long-term medical conditions, including HIV. He didn’t say when he would scrap the prescription charges, leaving us all waiting in the dark. We are still waiting.
 

People with some health problems never have to pay prescription charges. But the list of conditions that passport people to free prescriptions hasn’t been updated since it was written in 1968. HIV is not on the list, simply because HIV was discovered almost twenty years after the list was made.

While HIV medicines themselves come free because they are prescribed by the hospital, other medicines (for depression, anxiety, and everything else) have to be paid for.

Many people with HIV have no right to free prescriptions and these costs rapidly mount up. Some people cannot afford to collect the drugs they need from the chemist.
 

Actions, not words

Please email your MP to ask the Secretary of State for Health for the abolition of prescription charges for people with HIV and other long-term conditions.
 

Easy-peasy

Simply click the link, then add your details and it will write a custom letter from you to your MP – please be patient while it writes your personalised letter.
 

Disunited Kingdom

Each prescription item now costs £7.20 in England. Wales has already abolished prescription charges, Northern Ireland abolishes them in 2010 and Scotland will abolish them by 2011 - meanwhile Scotland is cutting the cost year by year - they are £4 now and will be £3 from April. England? they went up in April again to £7.20.