Four groundbreaking hepatitis C medicines have been recommended for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) but so far, no listing date has been confirmed.
In March the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) recommended three hepatitis C medicines for a PBS listing: sofosbuvir (Sovaldi), ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (Harvoni), and daclatasvir (Daklinza). The July PBAC meeting recommended a fourth treatment option: paritaprevir with ritonavir, ombitasvir and dasabuvir (Viekira Pak with or without ribavirin).
Hepatitis Australia and other state and territory hepatitis organisations are calling on the Federal Government to list the new hepatitis C treatments on the PBS without further delay. “It is a completely unacceptable situation. Recommendations alone will not cure anyone. It’s time to act on the advice of the experts and add these medicines to the PBS,” said CEO of Hepatitis Australia, Helen Tyrrell.
She pointed out that over 230,000 Australians live with hepatitis C but only one per cent are receiving treatment. Without urgent access to the new curative treatments, more Australians will progress to serious liver disease, with a 230 per cent increase in the number of deaths due to hepatitis C-related liver disease predicted in the next fifteen years.
Ms Tyrrell said that liver clinics are reporting that hundreds of Australians are deferring treatment and waiting anxiously for the PBS listing of new interferon-free medicines. “Australians living with hepatitis C have already waited too long to access new treatments. These medicines need to be made available so people can at last be free of the virus allowing them to resume their productive lives,” she said.
She added that recent reports of Australians importing generic copies of antiviral medication from overseas highlights the desperation of many people and the need for decisive government action to address growing inequities in treatment access based on the ability to pay.
For more information on new hepatitis C treatments, visit the Hepatitis Australia page: http://www.hepatitisaustralia.com/hepatitis-c-facts/treatment-for-hep-c, or watch the New Hepatitis C Treatment webcast http://hepsa.asn.au/news/213-new-hepatitis-c-treatment-on-demand-webcast. Or call the National Hepatitis Helpline 1800 437 222.
