By Leonie Mellor
Nearly 250,000 Australians with Hepatitis C hope new drugs will be approved by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
Current medication can require 6-12 months of treatment and for many patients causes debilitating side effects like nausea, hair loss and depression.
Hepatitis Queensland spokeswoman Jodie Walton said while the available drugs had an 80 per cent cure rate, the emotional and physical cost was often too high. She said the stigma associated with Hepatitis C meant many sufferers were reluctant to tell their family or work colleagues they were infected. But she said new drugs from Europe and the US were providing hope.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) last week considered five drugs for the government-subsidised PBS.
Their recommendations are expected in six weeks.
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