CANADA: Overwhelming Support For Right To Sight Campaign

TORONTO, Ontario (CNIB), January 21, 2008: In only 12 days, over 7,000 Canadians and a number of organizations have shown their support in CNIB’s Right to Sight campaign, telling members of the Common Drug Review (CDR) that a breakthrough treatment for a widespread and devastating eye disease should be recommended to provincial and territorial health plans. Without a recommendation for Lucentis, which is being reviewed for a final time this Wednesday (January 23, 2008), tens of thousands of Canadians will not be able to afford the first and only clinically proven treatment that in many cases can actually restore vision lost to wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD). "The groundswell of support we’ve received and the reaction we have seen from Canadians in the past 12 days has been tremendous," said Jim Sanders, President and CEO of CNIB. "We are confident the members of the Common Drug Review have heard the message, but more importantly, we trust they will make the right decision based on due diligence and an understanding that all Canadians, regardless of income, deserve the chance to maintain their eyesight." CNIB has received support from across the country and around the world for the Right to Sight campaign, from organizations such as the Canadian Association of Retired Persons, the Canadian Association of Optometrists, the Canadian Ophthalmological Society, the Canadian Council of the Blind, the Association for Sight Impaired Consumers, the Canadian Diabetes Association, the Canadian Organization for Rare Disorders, the AMD Alliance International, the World Blind Union and the International Association for the Prevention of Blindness. Canadian comedian and actor Mary Walsh, who has wet AMD herself, has also thrown her support behind the campaign. To Read More Click here Copyright © 1996-2007 CNIB.