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Group praises govt’s plan to provide Hepatitis C medication
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Against stigma – Counsellors from Rumah Cemara and Puzzle Club, two organizations concerned with HIV and AIDS issues, promote the importance of testing to young people as part of a campaign themed “Love for Live”. It was held during the Indonesia Without Stigma program in Bandung, West Java, on Oct. 22. Hepatitis C is a common co-infection for people who have HIV. (Antara/Fahrul Jayadiputra)
K
oalisi Obat Murah (KOM), a non-government group concerned with people’s right to access quality and affordable medicines, has welcomed the Health Ministry’s plan to offer a tender for the procurement of Sofosbuvir, a combined medication used to treat Hepatitis C, for 6,000 patients with the virus.
“The tender for the procurement of Sofosbuvir shows the Health Ministry is really serious about saving Indonesian people from Hepatitis C. This epidemic has become a silent killer for tens of thousands of people in Indonesia and millions of others in countries across the world,” said Indonesia AIDS Coalition (IAC) director Aditya Wardhana, who is also a KOM spokesperson, on Friday.
He said providing greater access to Sofosbuvir was an initial government step that had been long awaited by millions of people with Hepatitis C in Indonesia.
The Hepatitis C virus can cause cirrhosis, which can eventually lead to death. It is estimated that 3 million Indonesian people suffer from Hepatitis C, which results in the deaths of more than 15,000 patients every year in the country.
Sofosbuvir is a direct acting antiviral (DAA) that has been recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as an essential medicine for Hepatitis C with more than 95 percent effectiveness. The Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) issued a license for the distribution of Sofosbuvir in Indonesia on July 1.
“We hope the government will buy generic versions of the medicine instead of the patented one because generic Sofosbuvir costs only 0.5 percent of the patented drug price. By procuring generic versions, the government can buy more Sofosbuvir to cure more Hepatitis C patients,” said Aditya. (ebf)
