Last summer, you may remember that the report Wasted money, wasted lives was published. It looked at the human and economic costs of epilepsy in England, and condemned the continued government failure to meet the needs of people living with the condition.
According to the report, people with epilepsy are being left behind by society and by a system that has consistently failed them. Despite the development of effective treatments in recent years, 69,000 people are living with unnecessary seizures, while 74,000 people are taking drugs they do not need.
The report was written by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Epilepsy, a committee of members of the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The group are holding their annual general meeting next month, and a government health minister, Ann Keen MP, will be addressing them. We would like you to ask your MP if he or she would go to the meeting.
This is a really important meeting with an opportunity to ask the minister about the government’s response to Wasted money wasted lives. Please write to your MP explaining why you think the report is important and that you hope that they will be able to attend the meeting. It would be really helpful if when writing to your MP you outline any particular difficulties or issues you face in getting good epilepsy treatment or your personal experience of any of the issues raised in Wasted money, wasted lives.
Please tell your MP that the meeting is on Tuesday 14 October 2008, from 4pm to 5pm, in Committee Room 4A of the House of Lords.
You can send your MP an email online through www.writetothem.com. You can also get their contact details via the UK Parliament website.
If your MP gets back to you to tell you that they’re going to the meeting, please let us know by sending an email to mbartlett@epilepsy.org.uk.
There are no comments yet. Be the first to comment...