Here in Australia, the availability of IVIG is extremely limited. It is only available to the most extreme cases. However, the Australian National Blood Authority have denied this life saving medication to a little 2 year old girl called Ivy who has has a rare immune deficiency IgG. Because of that, she has Pemphigus which is an autoimmune response to the IgG. She is on Preds to control the blistering and other symptoms but this weakens her already weak immune system and thus every time she picks up any kind of virus she ends up in the ER.
Receiving IVIG would give Ivy a shot at living a normal life, but the ANBA have said no. A petition has been set up to try and get the ANBA to change their minds. To read about Ivy’s plight and sign the petition please head over to this website.
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6 responses so far ↓
Jodi // September 6, 2008 at 11:29 am
Wow. THat is really sad. The kids I work with get IVIG pretty easily & readily.
Riayn // September 6, 2008 at 11:32 am
IVIG is readily available in the US, but because of Australia’s small population of which only a tiny percentage donate blood, we can’t get the supplies of IVIG we need to treat everyone who needs it.
Veronica // September 6, 2008 at 11:38 am
Thankyou so much.
tiff // September 6, 2008 at 11:42 am
Thank you so much for this.
Jodi // September 6, 2008 at 12:18 pm
Ugh. So awful. I signed the petition. Wish there was more I could do.
Riayn // September 6, 2008 at 3:58 pm
Tiff: Give Ivy a big hug for me. I really hope this petition helps to get her the IVIG treatments she needs.
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