Hepatitis C Situation in Hungary
The infection of Hepatitis C has been growing rapidly in Hungary. It is more rampant among injecting drug users. The reason is the increase in stimulant injection. The lack of adequate access to harm reduction services also contributes to the reason.
Hepatitis C among injecting drug users increased from 24% to almost 50% during the last few years. Several new Hepatitis infections have sprung up because of the anti-harm reduction and anti-NGO turn of the Hungarian government.
Hepatitis C Issues and Challenges in Hungary
The Hungarian government allocated 6 billion Forints to combating hepatitis C. According to Dr. Tamás Tóth, it would be enough to treat every Hepatitis C patient in two years.
Hepatitis C Treatment in Hungary
Hungary has a free health care service however, there are long waiting lists and only those with severe liver damage can access the new treatment.
There is very little data about Hepatitis C infection rates in Hungary over 1% population as it is a Hepatitis C hotspot.
As the direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) have come up, the side-effects of Hepatitis C can be reduced significantly. interferon-free DAA regimes are highly tolerable, short, and simple to deliver. The cure rates are more than 90%.
The Hungarian government created a central registry for Hepatitis C patients (HepReg). It is accompanied by a patients’ risk score calculator registered with Hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C antiviral drugs are highly effective, but they are excessively expensive. A Sovaldi pill is $1,000! A full 12-week course of treatment with this drug costs $84,000.
Let’s have a look at a few other medicines for a 12-week treatment –
- Harvoni costs $94,500
- Mavyret costs $39,600
- Zepatier costs $54,600
- Technivie costs $76,653
Hepatitis C treatment cost in Hungary is high because of the demand for medicines and the cost of pharmaceutical companies launching in the market.
The high medicine cost is also because of the lack of a national health care system that negotiates medication costs on behalf of consumers. Other drug companies pose no or less competition. So, drug companies. As a result, Hepatitis C drug manufacturers have the freedom to charge as per their wishes.
This has led drug tourism in India to soar high as it is the marketplace for cheap, generic Hepatitis drugs. Patients sometimes teamed up with tourist agencies to organize the patients’ trips for low Hepatitis C treatment costs in India.
For instance, Harvoni cost in India is INR 25000 for a pack of 28 tablets. Similarly, the Epclusa cost in India by Natco is INR 18,500 for a bottle of 28 tablets.
WHO estimated that in 2019, approximately 290 000 people died from Hepatitis C, mostly from cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer).
Did you know? Almost 58 million people are estimated to be infected by chronic Hepatitis C virus globally. Also, about 1.5 million new infections are reported every year. In 2019, WHO estimated the death of approximately 290 000 people from Hepatitis C. A majority of such cases were hepatocellular carcinoma (primary liver cancer) and cirrhosis.