Lifesaving cancer treatments denied to public patients due to lengthy delays for HSE approval 

Irish Cancer Society chief executive Averil Power said it was incredibly unfair some patients were getting the latest, groundbreaking cancer treatments while others were being left behind.

Public cancer patients are being denied access to potentially lifesaving treatments by up to two years because of red-tape — an issue which must be addressed by the incoming government.

The call came from the Irish Cancer Society, which warned Ireland's two-tiered cancer drug access system means about 30-40% of the new groundbreaking European Medicines Agency (EMA) approved cancer drugs available in private hospitals today are currently not available to public patients.