CAMPAIGNERS in Spain are trying to get a treatment that treats the painful condition known as Butterfly Skin made available in the country.
A gene therapy administered in hospitals called Vyjuvek received European approval six months
Butterfly Skin is a rare and so far incurable condition that turns any skin friction into a painful wound .
It forces sufferers to endure constant bandages and daily dressing changes.
Countries including France, Italy and Germany are already applying this treatment in their hospitals, but so far the Spanish Health System is not using it.
The charity DEBRA Piel de Mariposa, based in Marbella, has launched a petition to get it in Spain.
It said that ‘every minute without treatment is a minute of pain’, so they are asking people to sign the petition as ‘every signature counts’.
According to DEBRA, the delay in Vyjuvek coming to Spain has resulted in over four million minutes of painful cures, which is equivalent to more than seven years of accumulated suffering.
They point out that Vyjuvek has already transformed lives in other countries.
Vyjuvek is applied directly to wounds and works by repairing the genetic defect that prevents the skin from regenerating normally.
The treatment speeds healing, reduces pain, and prevents infections.
The results in other countries are encouraging including a 21-year-old man who had had an open wound for a decade which managed to close it and has not relapsed for more than a year.
In another case, a 13-year-old boy, considered legally blind, has regained his sight after Vyjuvek treatment.
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