When you are first diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis the last thing you worry about is how much it’s going to cost.  But cost it does.  Days off work, assistive devices and prescription charges all quickly mount up until you begin to wonder just how you can afford  to have RA.

At the moment certain conditions are eligible for free prescriptions.  These conditions include epilepsy, diabetes, hypoparathyroidism and cancer.  Pregnant women are exempt from paying for their prescriptions throughout pregnancy and for a year after birth.  So why not Rheumatoid Arthritis?

RA is a chronic and often progressive disease.  Sufferers have to take a cocktail of drugs - some to deal with the condition itself and others to counter the side-effects of these drugs; depression can come hand-in-hand with RA - adding yet more medication to the monthly bill. 

Yet given a choice between putting food on the table and paying for medication, which would you choose?  There is evidence that some people are having to make exactly these choices, putting themselves at grave risk of serious joint damage and storing up a whole heap of expense for the NHS.  That’s why it is essential that prescription charges are abolished for sufferers of Rheumatoid Arthritis, it’s not only good for us, but it’s good for the NHS too.

The government is currently reviewing prescription charges and the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society (NRAS) is campaigning for free prescriptions for all RA sufferers.  Funky Arthur supports this campaign.  What can you do?

1. Email your MP and ask for their support - go to www.parliament.co.uk, click on ‘MPs and Lords’ then click on ‘members of parliament by constituency’ to find your MPs details
2. Visit www.prescriptionpromise.org who are campaigning for free prescriptions for all who suffer with a long-term condition and sign their petition.
3. Join the Facebook causes group by following this link http://apps.facebook.com/causes/269885/11236118?m=fe50b0e9
4. If you have had problems paying for your prescriptions, then the National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society are looking for case studies.  Follow this link http://www.rheumatoid.org.uk/article.php?article_id=636.