Hospital's work with blind praised

10:33pm Wednesday 14th February 2007

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THE Royal Bolton Hospital has been praised by Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt for its work in treating elderly blind people.

Ms Hewitt is calling for full clinical trials for the drug Avastin, which is being used to treat Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) at the Royal Bolton Hospital.

The hospital, one of a handful in the country to give a trial to the drug, was praised by Ms Hewitt in the Commons.

Avastin is licensed for use in treating patients with bowel cancer, although it is not licensed yet for treating conditions in eye patients.

Consultant ophthalmologist Simon Kelly was also praised for his research linking smoking to AMD, which is the leading cause of blindness in the UK.

Ms Hewitt said: "I readily congratulate Mr Kelly's team on its excellent research.

"The introduction of smoke-free legislation later this year will be an important step forward in public health generally, and specifically in reducing the risk of other people acquiring that appalling condition in future."

Mr Kelly said: "We've been using Avastin at the unit for Bolton and Salford patients only, even though this drug does not have a licence for eye patients.

"So far the results are encouraging. I'm very pleased our work has been recognised."