Can you help Warwickshire woman in her campaign to get the cancer treatment drugs her mother desperately needs?

A Warwickshire woman is campaigning to help her mother and others with a rare form of cancer to be able to get the treatment drugs they need for free through the NHS.

Jan Young’s mother Valerie Taylor, 83, and a former member of NHS staff, has anaplastic thyroid cancer: the rarest and most aggressive form of thyroid cancer for which the treatment drugs Pembrolizumab and Lenvatinib – commonly used to treat various other forms of the diseasee – are not available for free through the NHS.

Jan, of Moreton Paddocks, wants to change this and has also launched an online appeal for donations to help the family to cover the cost of the drugs which can amount to up to £10,000 every three weeks.

Jan said: “These drugs aren't new or innovative.

“They’re manufactured in England and used to treat other cancers on the NHS.

“But The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has not licensed them to be used for the type of cancer my mother has.

"I think it is totally wrong and unethical where not only a postcode determines wheter you get adequate treatment but the type of cancer you have.

"I’m campaigning very hard to get these drugs for as cheap as possible if not for free.

"They cost thousands of pounds and it could come to a point where my mother and father have to sell their house just to fund this treatment, which should not be the way.”

Jan has launched a Gofundme page at https://bit.ly/3zapxP0 on which more information about the campaign can be found.

She said: “This isn’t just about my mum.

“We don't want any family being in a worse position than we are.

"I just can’t get my head around the fact that these drugs are available daily for some people for free while my mother and others have to pay thousands of pounds for them.”