Family’s desperate plea for lifesaving drug to become available Australia as they prepare for gruelling international journey to save their sick toddler [Video]

10:31 EDT 28 Jun 2024, updated 10:41 EDT 28 Jun 2024

Families with children suffering from a rare and deadly form of cancer are pleading with the federal government to allow Australians access to a life-saving drug.

Neuroblastoma is a deadly disease that takes the lives of more children under five than any other cancer, but a groundbreaking drug called DFMO could save them.

DFMO is not yet approved in Australia, so kids such as two-year-old Harris – known as Hazzy to his family – have to fly to the United States to be treated. 

The long journey is both expensive and risky for children who are already immunocompromised, with Hazzy’s parents Tyler and Alix pushing the government to allow them access to DFMO before it’s approved in Australia.

‘We don’t understand why it can’t just be here for us to access and why we can’t just go to the hospital we’re already going to,’ Alix said told A Current …