Once in a decade, a drug comes along that represents a real medical advance, and when it does we must grasp the chance to use it. Herceptin is such a drug, a monoclonal antibody which targets a protein, HER2, that is expressed by cancer cells and helps them grow aggressively. Until recently Herceptin has been used mainly for prolonging the lives of women with advanced breast cancer. But new data last week showed the drug could save up to 20 per cent of breast cancer patients by preventing them suffering relapses after radiotherapy and chemotherapy.

Translated into numbers, this means Herceptin could effectively 'cure' around 1,300 women a year in Britain. The trouble, once again, is the issue of availability. The National Institute for Clinical Excellence (Nice) is currently weighing up the cost and clinical effectiveness of Herceptin before deciding if it will give a licence, a procedure that could take up to a year.

Once this hurdle has been cleared, there should be no excuse - according to the new Health Secretary, Patricia Hewitt - for delaying the provision of Herceptin. It will not be that simple, of course. Pressure from patients, staffing costs and oncologists' abilities to fight for funding will also influence NHS hospitals' ability to provide the drug. With an annual cost of £20,000, Herceptin treatments are not cheap. On the other hand, its use will be offset by the fact that fewer patients will end up with advanced breast cancer.

Overall, there has never been a stronger case for the fast-tracking of a drug. Hewitt must insist that laboratories and clinics offer this therapy when it is licensed. This drug must be available to all the women who need it, the day after it is licensed. This is what the NHS is for - to give the best treatment to patients, regardless of their class or wealth.