ABPI manifesto calls for action on drug take-up; says patients in UK "short-changed"

With the aim of helping to increase the uptake of innovative new drugs and tackle the still existing problem of "postcode" prescribing under the National Health Service, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry has issued a "manifesto," stating that patients in the UK are still being negatively affected by a system that is slow to pick up on new medicines and reluctant to prescribe them even when they have been recommended by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE).

New figures produced by the ABPI show that the UK still lags behind its European and global counterparts in prescribing new, innovative medicines for patients. Even five years after their launch, major cancer medicines are still being prescribed at under two-thirds the rate of other, comparable countries; diabetes medicines at under half the rate; and dementia medicines at about one-third.

Drugs bill and prices declining in UK