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Justin McNulty MLA has challenged the First Minister's commitment to all-island healthcare after receiving what he described as a vague response regarding discussions on CAR-T therapy at the most recent North South Ministerial Council Meeting.
In a question to First Minister Michelle O'Neill in the Assembly on Monday 17 November, McNulty pressed for details after the Executive Office's response to his earlier written question failed to confirm or deny whether CAR-T, a vital immunotherapy that can kill cancer cells, was specifically discussed at the meeting. The Executive Office's response had stated that "Ministers provided updates on a wide range of collaboration including on Health issues" but offered no further clarification.
McNulty asked the First Minister if all-island CAR-T was specifically discussed and questioned why there was no reference to all-island healthcare in her statement if it was so important. The First Minister responded that she had "no doubt" that CAR-T was discussed in the health sectoral meeting but provided no hard evidence to support this claim.
Expressing disappointment in the Minister's response, McNulty said: "All-island access to CAR-T therapy is a life-saving, necessary measure to combat cancer across this Island and prevent patients and their families from having to travel to access treatment."
He added: "The North South Ministerial Council is the ideal forum to advance these policies to improve healthcare access in the North and South alike, and I call on the Executive to make healthcare policies a priority in these meetings, and not exclude it from their statements."
