A HORWICH family is still waiting to hear if health bosses will fund safer care for their three sons.

Jan and Paul Hartley have three young sons all suffering from haemophilia and are regularly given a product which their parents and other haemophiliac families reckon is inferior to another on the market.

Tim, 13, Tom 10 and Matthew, seven, all receive Human Plasma 8, a blood clotting agent which works to combat the worst effects of their condition. But the product also carries the risk of infection.

During a recent protest on the steps of the Royal Manchester Childrens Hospital where the boys are treated Jan, Paul and their sons along with other families from across the region, demanded their right to the genetically engineered Recombinant treatment.

They and others believe Recombinant offers haemophiliacs a far better treatment, but because it is more expensive they claim their children are being denied the option.

Jan and Paul recently joined other parents at the RMCH and met with health bosses from across the region. "At the meeting we were given the opportunity to put forward our point of view and we were told the issue would be looked at thoroughly," said Jan.

"But it was made clear no decision would be made until the end of November. In the meantime we are being made to hang on and put up with what we regard as an inferior treatment for our children," she added.

Bury and Rochdale Health Authority which buys services for haemophiliacs for Wigan and Bolton Health Authority is set to consider the issue at its next meeting on November 27.

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