For Medical Cannabis Awareness Week, which took place November 1 – 8, Sapphire Medical Foundation is looking to raise much-needed funds to help reduce the barrier of financial access to medical cannabis in the UK.
Since medical cannabis was made available on the NHS on 1 November 2018, limited progress has been made in making cannabis-based medicinal products available on NHS prescription, with the majority of patients having to access it through private prescription.
To help raise awareness of these financial barriers, and to raise funds to help patients access the medicine they need, Sapphire Medical Foundation involved industry teams and walked, ran, and swam the 550km journey from London to Holland.
London to Holland
Before the rescheduling of cannabis for medical purposes in the UK many families travelled the journey from London to Holland to gain access to the medicine.
Currently in the UK, prescriptions can cost hundreds of pounds each month, and a recent survey has demonstrated that 1.4 million Brits are accessing their cannabis medicine on the black market to treat chronic health conditions due to these financial barriers, as well as the remaining stigma surrounding the medicine.
Dr Michael Platt, Sapphire Medical Foundation Co-founder and Trustee, Medical Director and Consultant Pain Physician at Sapphire Medical Clinics said: “Our teams across the industry are taking on the challenge to help raise awareness and funds for Sapphire Medical Foundation.
“We remain committed to reducing the financial barrier of access to treatment and are determined to continue to help patients even though fundraising has been difficult this year. We are seeing the cost of treatment coming down for patients, but this remains a barrier to access medical cannabis which, for many patients, can be life-changing medicine.”
Anyone who would like to contribute to the fundraising can via the website with all donations will go directly to helping patients in need with the cost of their medical cannabis prescriptions.
The clinic recently announced the introduction of a new medical cannabis range at a lower cost to help reduce financial barriers to access.
To find out more visit sapphirefoundation.co.uk/donations/mcaw2020.
