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Consider the price of a life. For people with hepatitis C, it is often the cost of treatment. With the new HCV treatments, the chance of a cure for most genotypes, even if a person has developed compensated cirrhosis, is now over 90%.
Unfortunately, at current prices, these treatments are not affordable – not even by most patients in middle and upper income countries such as Australia and Canada. However, there are so many people in the world with hepatitis C that even if drug companies offer patients an affordable price, they stand to make many millions more than their research and development costs.
For more information, we recommend an article, What price a life? Hepatitis C drug out of reach for millions, by researchers at the U. of Melbourne, November 24 2014. It is particularly relevant to Canadians with hepatitis C since the situation in Australia is very close to ours here in Canada:
“It’s twice as common as type 1 diabetes. It kills more Australians than HIV. One in every 100 of us lives with hepatitis C, but the disease receives little attention. Worldwide, around 150 million people are chronically infected and more than 350,000 lives are lost each year.
Nonetheless, earlier this year, Australia’s Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) declined to subsidise a new curative drug for hepatitis C called sofosbuvir (Sovaldi). The PBAC’s reason for its refusal was the drug’s potential impact on the health budget.
The proposed Australian price for Sovaldi has not been disclosed, but in the United States a three-month course of treatment costs US$84,000. The PBAC’s decision reflects a concern felt around the world: how can we treat so many people at such a high price?
A steep price
The current situation with hepatitis C recalls the fight over a decade ago for HIV drugs to be made affordable.” READ MORE… http://theconversation.com/what-price-a-life-hepatitis-c-drug-out-of-reach-for-millions-33625