Wednesday, June 21, 2017

Funding the war on hepatitis – deploying innovative finance mechanisms to eliminate hepatitis C in Europe

Funding the war on hepatitis – deploying innovative finance mechanisms to eliminate hepatitis C in Europe

"In this blog, co-authors Rob Walton (
Cello Health Public Affairs), Jeffrey V Lazarus (CHIP, WHO Collaborating Centre on HIV and Viral Hepatitis at Rigshospitalet, the University of Copenhagen and Editor-in-Chief of Hepatology, Medicine and Policy), Homie A. Razavi (Center for Disease Analysis), Jagpreet Chhatwal (Harvard Medical School), Charles Gore (Hepatitis C Trust), Pierre Van Damme (Vaccine & Infectious Disease Institute – VAXINFECTIO, University of Antwerp), Luís Mendão (GAT –Treatment Activist Group), and Angelos Hatzakis (Athens University Medical School and Hepatitis B & C Public Policy Association), discuss an innovative financing mechanism to eliminate Hepatitis C in Europe."

Rob Walton
20 Jun 2017
It is no coincidence that the emerging international consensus to tackle HCV has come at the same time as the arrival of new and highly effective range of direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatments for hepatitis C virus (HCV). These new drugs offer, for the first time, a realistic opportunity for the elimination of the disease across Europe by 2030. While effective, the high price of these treatments could pose a significant financial challenge to healthcare systems. But the costs of failing to take action could potentially be even higher. If HCV is left untreated, in many cases it can lead to liver failure and liver cancer which means that a liver transplant is the only viable course of treatment available.

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