IT has been an important week in the on-going debate about the availability of key drugs through the National Health Service.

Yesterday, we reported the welcome news that hundreds of thousands of dementia sufferers could finally be prescribed vital drugs after a U-turn by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice).

The breakthrough comes four years after The Northern Echo became the first newspaper to launch a campaign calling for a review of guidelines which meant only people with advanced dementia could get access to the drugs.

It struck us as a terrible injustice, and ultimately a false economy, to deny the drugs to those with early stages of dementia.

As a result of new draft guidelines being issued by Nice, it seems that wrong will be put right.

Today, we report how more than 200 North-East cancer patients will benefit from the Government’s decision to allocate an extra £50m to health authorities nationwide.

We have campaigned passionately to highlight the injustice of the postcode lottery over the availability of life-extending cancer drugs on the NHS, which means one sufferer can be treated while another across a geographical border cannot.

The extra £50m is a step in the right direction – but a small one. We understand that there cannot be a bottomless cash pit for the NHS. But the North-East’s share of the fund is £2.8m while Yorkshire and Humber will receive £5.3m.

It will not go nearly far enough. Our “End NHS Injustice” campaign on cancer drugs must go on.