Neurological Alliance Notes Irony

August 5 2004

Neurological Alliance Notes Irony Of "Best Treatments" Website

New Zealand's leading neurological organisations applauded the Ministry of Health initiative to fund New Zealanders' access to Internet-based health information.

Today's meeting of the NZ Neurological Alliance endorsed all efforts to provide the public with better access to health and treatment information.

"The UK website "BestTreatments" (http://www.besttreatments.net/) provides excellent information and we encourage people to check it out," said Karen Covell, NZ Neurological Alliance Chair.

"However, the Neurological Alliance finds it ironic that many of the proven effective treatments for a variety of neurological conditions listed on the British Medical Journal site are either not subsidised by PHARMAC or are not available in New Zealand," she continued.

The Neurological Alliance is the umbrella group for not-for-profit organisations which specialise in supporting New Zealanders living with neurological conditions. Members include the Stroke Foundation, the Multiple Sclerosis Society, Alzheimers New Zealand, the Muscular Dystrophy Association, the Motor Neurone Disease Association, Parkinson's New Zealand, and Epilepsy New Zealand.

"The groups represented around the table at today's meeting collectively support over 160,000 New Zealanders who live with a neurological condition." said Covell. "The disorders range from conditions in which prevention can play a large part, such as strokes, through to rapidly progressive and fatal diseases such as motor neurone disease. What they have in common is that huge improvements in quality of life are possible if the best drugs are available."

"The Neurological Alliance will continue its efforts to get PHARMAC to fund the drugs recommended on the "BestTreatments" website, thus ensuring that New Zealanders receive the best treatment available," Covell concluded.

ENDS

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