Vicky Phelan calls for the legalization of an anti-cancer drug

Vicky Phelan called on the government to make pembrolizumab available to all Irish women with cervical cancer.

The anti-cancer drug was offered by the state to the 221 women affected by the CervicalCheck scandal.

She added that other women should also benefit from treatment, called Pembro.

Speaking on RTÉ's Claire Byrne Live, Ms. Phelan said, "Women want an option, a little bit of hope".

A dose of medicine every three weeks costs 8,500 euros.

Phelan also said that she felt uncomfortable taking this medication and that other women were not doing it.

While her diagnosis is terminally ill, Pembro is buying time from Phelan and she can now live with the disease.

Áine Morgan of Loughrea, County Galway, was diagnosed with cervical cancer in October 2015.

The 43-year-old woman said she had chemotherapy and radiation therapy and that she now has no choice but pembrolizumab.

Ms. Morgan said that it is ridiculous that the drug be "given to one and not the other" and she asked that this drug be provided as part of a trial clinical.

She added that "it would be fantastic if we could have access to the drug" because she said the cost for her was not sustainable.

In a statement, the HSE said that the use of Pembrolizumab in the treatment of cervical cancer had been approved by the FDA in the United States but had not yet been licensed in the United States. Europe.