The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has given the green light for Xolair – a wellbeing-saving jab that can halve your risk of an asthma attack. This has given new hope to those in the UK whose wellness is affected by the respiratory condition, but this hope was very nearly snatched away.
Last year, Nice threatened to completely withdraw the asthma treatment, even though it was readily available to eligible patients in Scotland, as they claimed it was not as cost effective as first thought. However, wellness experts accused the health watchdog of starting “health apartheid” between Scotland and England and Wales. However, as rather than withdrawing Xolair from use, Nice has actually made it even more available. Six to 11 year-olds, with severe persistent allergic asthma, will now be able to use the jab as well.
The treatment has been approved for use in adults and people over the age of 12 since 2007, and is proven to improve asthmatics’ wellbeing, and halve the number of sufferers taken to hospital with potentially life-threatening asthma attacks. According to Samantha Walker, director of research and policy at Asthma UK, ‘This is a real victory for all the people with asthma who shared their incredible stories with NICE and marks the end of a long-fought campaign by Asthma UK to see the drug approved for NHS use.’
She continued, ‘While it’s not suitable for everyone, those who benefit from taking Xolair can see a massive improvement in their quality of life and many are able to reduce their dependence on other treatments which have harmful side effects. We now look forward to seeing this medicine available on the NHS for both adults and children.’ Asthma affects the lives of over five million Britons, and it costs the UK at lease £1billion a year to treat it.
Most asthma treatments, such as inhalers and oral steroids, work by suppressing the symptoms of asthma, like breathlessness. However, Xolair, also known as omalizumab, works by blocking the allergic triggers that spark an attack, and prevents one from happening at all. Walker praised Xolair as ‘the only treatment that works for some people with severe allergic asthma who would otherwise be virtually housebound because of breathlessness and living in constant fear of the next asthma attack.’
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