SUFFERERS of cystic fibrosis should not have to pay prescription charges, says Bury MP David Chaytor.

He has joined a Parliamentary campaign calling on the Government to put CF, the UK's most common life-threatening inherited disease, on the exempt list for charges.

Mr Chaytor said sufferers had a chronic medical condition which required continuous essential medication, and it was unfair to make them pay.

The Bury North MP also said it was "crazy" that CF sufferers were put off working and encouraged to fall back on benefits so that they could afford to pay for their health care.

He estimated the cost would be £100,000 a year, "a small price to pay to ensure fair treatment for some of the most vulnerable and courageous people in our society".

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