This treatment is extremely exciting

Yit Yang, Wolverhampton Eye Infirmary

As part of the treatment, doctors inject the light-activated dye into the patient's arm. This aims to stop the development of the disease.

The dye, called Visudyne, flows up into the eye where it is triggered by a cold laser beam into disrupting the blood flow and sealing damaged blood vessels.

An estimated half a million people in the UK suffer from the condition. That figure is expected to treble over the next 25 years as the population grows older.

Until now the treatment has only been available at selected treatment centres in the UK, including Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, where it was officially launched to eye specialists on Wednesday.

The developers say up to half of those with the "wet" form of the disease, which accounts for 90% of sufferers who go blind, could benefit from the treatment.

The Visudyne dye, which is manufactured by drug company CIBA UK, was approved by the European Medicines Evaluation Agency four weeks ago after being tested in two 12-month clinical trials.

Yit Yang, consultant ophthalmologist at Wolverhampton Eye Infirmary, who attended the launch, said: "This treatment is extremely exciting, bringing hope to thousands of sufferers who previously could not be treated.

"For the first time we are able to offer real hope to patients with this aggressive disease."

Doris Thomas, who was treated at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, said: "This treatment is fantastic news for people like me. It has allowed me to maintain my independence that I would undoubtedly have lost if the disease were untreated.

"My sight was deteriorating so fast that without it I would now probably be registered blind."

Sandra Murphy, a nurse at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, said: "It's quite shocking. Almost everyone must have an aunt or uncle, a father or grandmother who has AMD, yet 98% of people have never heard of it."