CHERYL Gillan MP tackled Tony Blair head-on after multiple sclerosis sufferers found they will face more delays on a decision to prescribe a 'vital' drug on the NHS.

The Conservative MP for Chesham and Amersham asked why the decision had been delayed during Prime Minister's Question Time before the Christmas break.

Mr Blair said that the delay until July 2001 was the "right thing" because the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) had still not completed an assessment of whether the beta interferon drug should be available to all on the NHS.

Ministers have passed the responsibility to NICE but the most recent delay will mean that MS sufferers will have waited a year since the decision was scheduled to be made.

Mrs Gillan said that time is of the essence for those who are suffering from the debilitating disease which affects the nervous system.

She said that the decision had again been promised in January this year for the New Year but that the "verbal agreement is not worth the paper it is written on".

The drug can mean that those who have relapses can reduce them which means a huge difference in quality of life.

Mrs Gillan, said: "Putting back the decision will inevitably mean that some patients whose doctors think they would benefit from treatment will not be able to get it. The hard facts are that their physical state and their quality of life will suffer."

Mother-of-two Janice Hunt, secretary of the Amersham, Chesham and District Branch of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, was appalled at the delay.

She said: "Everyone with multiple sclerosis should be given a chance to take the drug. I was told in 1996 I was suitable to take beta interferon but had to fight tooth and nail to get it for two years."

The drug has now reduced the number of relapses she has had and she believes it has the power to prevent many sufferers having to face the prospect of losing even basic things, like the ability to walk.

A spokesman for NICE said that they still had to finish consulting on the cost-effectiveness of the drug.