June 01, 2018
Alternative eye drug funded
From today government drug buying agency Pharmac will fund the drug Eyelea, which can be used as a back up to treat the country’s two leading causes of blindness.
Wet Age Related Macular Degeneration or wet-AMD is the leading cause of blindness, affecting one in seven people over the age of 50.
Diabetic Macular Oedema or DMO is a condition resulting from complications of type 1 and type 2 diabetes and is the leading cause of blindness in working age people, including a disproportionate number are of Maori and Pasifika.
Retina specialist and ophthalmologist Dr Dianne Sharp says she has used Eyelea on a number of patients who have not responded to other treatments, and she welcomed having it more readily available as an affordable option.
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