Castledawson woman Patricia McPeake, now recovered from breast cancer, inspired thousands of cancer sufferers when she fronted the Belfast Telegraph's 'Herceptin: Time for Action' campaign.

The campaign successfully pressurised the Government into allowing clinicians to prescribe the expensive drug which stops 50% of certain early stage breast cancers spreading.

At one stage Mrs McPeake launched a High Court bid to get the drug and referred her case to the Human Rights Commission.

The mother-of-two today spoke of the frustration of being denied a drug which could help as she welcomed Government's plans to speed up NHS approval for new drugs.

It can take as long as two years for the National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) to decide whether a new treatment is cost-effective enough to be funded on the NHS.

Ministers in London want this cut to six months.

Nice rulings do not extend to Northern Ireland but the medicines body does have a formal link with our Department of Health. Once a new drug is given the go-ahead by Nice, it can take between 12 and 24 months for it to come into effect here.

Mrs McPeake, who recently underwent reconstructive surgery after losing both breasts to cancer, said: "Cancer patients have enough on their mind without worrying about whether they're actually going to get access to drugs which can help them...

"There's no doubt in my mind, I would not be here today if it wasn't for getting Herceptin when I did."

Mrs McPeake is now looking forward to her daughter Shirelle's wedding in September.

The Belfast Telegraph last year highlighted the wait facing meso- thelioma sufferers as a drug called for Alimta was assessed by Nice for use on the NHS.

Northern Ireland was the last region of the UK to get access to the drug this year, even though Belfast is one of nine UK hotspots for the incurable lung cancer.

Nick Francis, a spokesman for Lily, which manufactures Alimta, said: " This is good news. When you consider the two years it can take Nice to consider a treatment and add that to the 12 to 24 months that the Department of Health might take, four years can be a long time, particularly in the case of mesothelioma which usually kills within a year."