Bairbre de Brun: Under pressure to fund drugs

In Northern Ireland, more than 200,000 people have the condition.

The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has already approved the use of Enbrel and Remicade for NHS patients in England and Wales with severe rheumatoid arthritis.

But the decision does not cover Northern Ireland or Scotland.

The treatments will cost about �8,000 per patient per year and about 150 people in the province are waiting for the drugs.

Ms de Brun said she would make a decision about whether to make the drug available in the province, after NICE announced its decision on 22 March.

But earlier this month, a spokesperson for Arthritis Care warned that patients who needed the drugs in the province would not get them because of the Department of Health's financial problems.

Disease

Currently, about 100 people in Northern Ireland have been treated with the drugs and a leading consultant said the results were better than expected.

NICE estimates 420,000 people are affected by rheumatoid arthritis in England and Wales.

They experience extreme joint pain, stiffness and inflammation, and many have to give up work.

Etanercept is also recommended for children aged four to 17 who have juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in at least five joints and whose condition has not responded to other treatment.

Etanercept and infliximab (in combination with methotrexate) are recommended for adults with active RA who have not responded well to conventional treatment by at least two different disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs.

Arthritis Care said that during its awareness week it would be "concentrating on promoting our valuable campaigning work and raising awareness for better access to treatments for everyone with arthritis".