Garret Ahearn (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Hyperemesis gravidarum is a condition that around 10% of women suffer from during pregnancy. Most people who have never been through it call it morning sickness. It is nothing like morning sickness. It is a severe illness that women have for nine months of their pregnancy. It probably became well known because Kate Middleton had it the first time she had a child. Currently, there are three drugs available in the market to treat people who suffer from the condition. Two of them are not available in Ireland. One of the drugs, Cariban, is available in Ireland, but it is unlicensed. At the moment, people have to purchase this drug. It costs them about €45 a week. For some people, the cost over the term of a full pregnancy is around €3,000. It is a severe cost for those going through pregnancies. The cost of it actually impacts the decisions of women on whether to have a child. For those who cannot afford the drug, going through pregnancy without it is totally and utterly unbearable. I raised the issue nine months ago, ironically, and nothing has really changed.Will the Leader ask the Minister for Health to commit to making this drug available to women going through this in Ireland? It is a horrendous condition for the women who have to suffer through it for nine months. The argument always made is that Cariban is unlicensed. The State has put provisions in place to support people in the context of other unlicensed drugs. It must be possible to find a way for the Department of Health and the Minister to make an exception for the small number of women who go through these very difficult pregnancies. The condition can be alleviated through the use of this drug, but the associated cost is a heavy one for people to bear. In fairness, we would in turn save on the cost of women having to go to hospital as a result of suffering from this condition. Many women cannot work because it is so difficult. The least we can do is to support women when they are going through pregnancy to bring new life into the world.