GOVERNMENT guidelines on prescribing Viagra - the "miracle cure" for impotency - have been welcomed by Bury health bosses.

Earlier this week, Health Secretary Frank Dobson made the wonder drug available to men who have been treated for prostate cancer, polio, kidney failure and Parkinson's Disease.

Treatment will also be available for men not on the list but who received drug treatment for impotence from September 14 last year.

Patients suffering from severe distress caused by impotency will be eligible to receive NHS treatment, but need to be referred to a specialist for a condition assessment.

The latest changes, which are due to be enforced from July, were said to make "common sense" by Bury and Rochdale Health Authority who estimated an additional £1.5 million a year on the budget.

Mr Mark Campbell, health authority pharmaceutical advisor, said: "The latest government guidance takes account of the very many responses in the wide consultation exercise. It provides a compromise between allowing impotent men to benefit from treatment and preventing the NHS from another major cost pressure."

The Health Authority is still awaiting further guidelines but says it will be working with local GPs and clinicians in making sure that eligible patients who request treatment receive it as soon as the guidelines allow.

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