Mr. Durkan was one of a group of MPs who signed a parliamentary motion at Westminster asking for the Alimta drug to be made available to sufferers of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lungs which is linked to exposure to asbestos.

The SDLP leader has been supporting the campaign for a number of years. The campaign has been led locally by Mary Carlin, the widow of the former mayor of Derry, Tony Carlin, who died from mesothelioma in 2003.

Speaking after the government reversed their decision to use the drug, Mr. Durkan said; “I welcome the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence’s landmark decision today to overturn their original recommendation to deny patient access to Alimta - the only licensed treatment for this asbestos-induced form of lung cancer. After appealing the initial NICE recommendation, this positive decision is good news for hundreds of sufferers in Northern Ireland and throughout the UK, which could potentially give them an extra year of life and a better quality of life.”