Image courtesy of BBC
There is one important goal for Ms Jayne Sullivan, and that's to make herceptin available to deserving women. This 45-year-old mother is spending nights in the foyer of the Welsh Assembly protesting against "postcode lottery" cancer treatment. Ms Sullivan is determined to remain in the Assembly until all women in the early stages of breast cancer receive funding for the drug in Wales.
The Welsh Assembly says that commissioning the drug was up to local health and government authorities but has indicated that the drug is likely to be approved. At present Herceptin is only licensed for use in UK for late-stage breast cancer.
Ms Sullivan is mother of a teenage son and daughter. She is determined to continue her protest until the bureaucracy ends and the highly successful drug is available to all women who could benefit.
Barbara Clark, a 49-year-old from Somerset who has recently fought to obtain herceptin, and in remission from her breast cancer, is supporting Sullivan in her protest.
Ms Sullivan is managing to get some sleep. She said last night she had around two-and-a-half hours' sleep after bedding down on a sofa in the assembly building's milling area.
Welsh Health Minister Brian Gibbons says that he would not approve the drug in Wales because it had not been licensed. Dr Gibbons told the assembly's health committee other drugs that had been provided without a licence were later shown to be unsafe.
Sullivan said that she had no other choice and decided on this protest. She is committed to solving this problem and will stay in the foyer of the Assembly until the cancer wonder drug herceptin is approved across the NHS in Wales.
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