Greg Mulholland – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department of Health

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Greg Mulholland on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of people with uveitis; and what treatment is available for that condition at what cost.

Alistair Burt

Patients with uveitis are usually diagnosed and treated in primary care and no data is collected which would identify how many patients with this condition are seen and treated. Information provided by the Health and Social Care Information Centre for secondary care, shows that for 2013/14 there were 7,226 admissions to hospital where a diagnosis of uveitis has been recorded.

The main treatment for uveitis is with steroids, which can reduce the inflammation inside the eye. In some cases additional treatment might be needed, such as immunosuppressants.

The costs associated with these drugs are around £150 per adult patient per year and £35 per paediatric patient per year.