Several thousand people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) and other long-term conditions have taken part in our surveys in England and Northern Ireland.
The findings tell us that prescription charges prevent people from collecting and taking the medication they need to keep them well and prevent life-threatening complications.
We were therefore very pleased to hear Health Minister, Simon Hamilton MLA state that he did not foresee prescription charges being brought back during his time as Minister, meaning that charges will not be reintroduced before the next Assembly elections currently scheduled for May 2016.
However, given the Minister’s comments, it is clear that this issue is not off the agenda and we need all political parties to commit to maintaining free prescriptions for people with long-term conditions now and in the future.
Therefore, as someone living with IBD we need your help in emailing your local Northern Ireland Assembly Members (MLAs) to support this. One way they can show their support is by attending a Parliamentary event in Stormont next week on Tuesday 24 November, in the Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings, Belfast, between 11.45am – 2pm. Crohn’s and Colitis UK staff and local group members will be at the event.
To find your local MLAs, please visit https://icampaigner.org/join/keepuswell and input your postcode. This will give you the names of the MLAs in your area and it will give you the option of emailing all your local MLAs by clicking “add recipient”.
Please feel free to use the suggested text to email your MLAs - if you can also include your personal experience of living with IBD, then this will have more impact. If your MLA is supportive, please do let us know as we may be able to send them further information.
If you have any questions about this or would like to know more about how you might be able to support our campaigns, then please email ppr@crohnsandcolitis.org.uk
