Thalidomide survivor in Wales welcomes lifelong support offer

Rosaleen Moriarty-Simmonds is one of the 30 thalidomide survivors thought to be living in Wales

Thalidomide survivors in Wales need the lifelong financial help announced by ministers, a disability campaigner has said.

"I will need more care as I get older," said Rosaleen Moriarty-Simmonds, from Cardiff.

She is one of 30 in Wales born with limb deformities because their pregnant mothers took thalidomide.

Health Minister Eluned Morgan said she hoped the funding would provide reassurance.

Thousands of babies worldwide were born disabled because of thalidomide, a morning sickness drug prescribed between 1958 and 1961.

A 10-year funding agreement for the Thalidomide Trust Health Grant (TTHG) had been due to end in March 2023.

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Ms Moriarty-Simmonds, who is the High Sheriff of South Glamorgan, said extending the grant to survivors for life would be "welcomed by all".

"The cost of living for disabled people is phenomenal, so this health grant will let us buy essential equipment," she added.

Facing the cost of specialist medical equipment, care costs and her £9,000 wheelchair, she said the funding would be a "great help".

Rosaleen Moriarty-Simmonds is High Sheriff of South Glamorgan

"I am not getting any younger," she joked. "It is difficult enough to find carers [and] to be able to keep them," said Ms Moriarty-Simmonds.

"We are getting more reliant on that kind of care."

The grant's distribution to survivors is overseen by the TTHG, which has received more than £8m from the Welsh government since 2013.

The money is used for help that includes pain management, personal assistance and personal care.

'Vital assistance'

"I hope the announcement today reassures thalidomide survivors that continued financial support will be available to them," Ms Morgan said.

"Providing support with their ongoing and future health needs to enable them to maintain independence and wellbeing for as long as possible.

"I want to thank the Thalidomide Trust for their work in helping to oversee the grant and providing vital assistance to thalidomide survivors."

A memorial to those affected by the drug scandal was unveiled in Cardiff in 2016

The Welsh government said it had agreed with the trust that there would be regular reviews of the funding to ensure the needs of survivors continued to be met.

Trust executive director Deborah Jack said: "Most of our beneficiaries are now in their 60s and the years of using their bodies in ways that were never intended has really taken its toll.

"Almost all of them are living with persistent pain and most are now experiencing multiple health problems. The costs of meeting their complex needs are significant and growing.

"Many of them have been really anxious about the prospect of this much-needed funding coming to an end so this is really welcome news."

Thalidomide was withdrawn in December 1961 and banned as a morning sickness drug, but is still used in the UK to treat certain cancers.

It is heavily regulated to ensure it is not used during pregnancy and only prescribed by specialists.