NHS to offer lifechanging drug to premature babies
For the first time, babies that are born too early in England can be offered a revolutionary drug that helps prevent them from going blind.
This week, the NHS announced that injections of a drug called ranibizumab can help to stop premature babies from losing their sight. The disease, known as retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), occurs more often in children that have been born too early.
If children are born premature, the NHS routinely screens these babies for the condition, which affects blood vessels in the retina, creating damaging scar tissue and causing blindness.
Before the NHS announced the new drug is going to be used, the condition was treated with laser eye surgery, but some babies are too fragile or unwell to have the treatment. Now that the new injections have been introduced, around 20 babies a year will benefit.
The drug works by temporarily stopping the action of a growth protein called vascular endothelial growth factor, which reduces or reverses the growth of the abnormal blood vessels.
NHS chief executive, Amanda Pritchard said: ‘The impacts of vision loss can be absolutely devasting, particularly for children and young people, so it’s fantastic that this treatment will now give families across the country another life-changing option to help save their child’s precious sight.
‘The national roll-out of this lifeline treatment for babies who are too poorly to undergo laser eye therapy is a vital step forward in preventing avoidable vision loss, and as we prepare to mark our 75th anniversary this is another example of how the NHS continues to ensure that the latest and most effective treatments are available for everyone who needs them.’
The news of the NHS to start offering the drug to premature babies has come as the National Health Organisation has just celebrated it’s 75th anniversary.
Image: Colin Maynard