Muted response
22 Jan 2014 12:46 AM GMT
Thirty-five-year-old James (name changed) from Meghalaya was shattered when he was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 2009. He got another shock when he found that the treatment, which lasts around one year, would cost over Rs 10,000 per week. Working as a counsellor with a non-profit for Rs 7,000 a month, the expense was beyond his reach. He is one of the millions of Hepatitis C patients in India.
There are no government figures for the number of people suffering from the disease in India. As per World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, 12 million people in India may be infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and around 96,000 die from it annually. Also, a lot of people suffering from HIV are infected with HCV. According to I-MAK, a US-based non-profit, 13 per cent of the HIV patients across the world also have HCV.
Homa Mansoor, a physician engaged in treating HCV patients under the care of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international non-profit working for the medically deprived, says the treatment of HCV is exorbitant. According to Loon Gangte of Delhi Network of Positive People, a non-profit working for the rights of HIV positive people, the cost of the entire treatment is Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Gangte says that it is not possible for a common man to bear the cost without assistance from the government. A year ago, Gangte and a few other activists met Planning Commission member Sayeda Hameed to raise the issue. Gangte says that she assured the matter would be discussed with health department officials but nothing has happened so far.
There are no Central government schemes to deal with HCV, but a few states in the Northeast have launched some initiatives. The number of HCV-infected people in the northeast is higher than in the rest of the country, according to a study by Ashis Mukhopadhya, a Kolkata-based physician. His paper refers to a previous study done in 2001 which found the incidence of HCV in Arunachal Pradesh to be 7.89 per cent. Mukhopadhya’s study was published in the Journal of Bioscience in 2008.
In June 2013, the Meghalaya government assured treatment to HIV and HCV co-infected people. At that time there were only seven HIV-HCV co-infected patients registered under the government’s anti-retroviral treatment scheme for HIV positive people. The government decided to finance the treatment of two out of these seven in the first phase and purchased drugs for a three-month course. The most common treatment for HCV includes one injection of peg-IFN-alpha (interferon) every week and daily oral dose of ribavirin.
The state government bought the drugs from India-based pharma company Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd at the rate of Rs 9,200 per vial for the two patients. Hepatitis C Coalition of Meghalaya (Hep.Com), a group of people fighting for the rights of HCV patients in the state, tried to negotiate with Zydus on the price and managed to get it reduced to Rs 5,200 per vial. Zydus offered to provide diagnostic support as well. Hep.Com also wrote to the state government on 3 January 2014, saying the three-month medication to the selected patients would do more harm than good because if there is a more than two-day break in medication the entire course goes waste and there is a chance of the patients developing resistance to the drugs.
K Priyokumar Singh, retired physician from J N Hospital, Manipur, who claims to have treated 250 HCV cases in the state, says, ‘Sometimes, we counsel patients to go for treatment only if they can afford the complete course. Otherwise, there is fear that drug resistance can develop.’
The high cost of the drug seems to be the reason behind the government’s apathy. E Dkhar, director of health services, Meghalaya, denies having information on the government’s decision to provide treatment to co-infected people. But as per the minutes of a health department meeting held on 28 June 2013, the government has decided to provide treatment to co-infected people.
By arrangement with Down to Earth magazine
There are no government figures for the number of people suffering from the disease in India. As per World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates, 12 million people in India may be infected with the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) and around 96,000 die from it annually. Also, a lot of people suffering from HIV are infected with HCV. According to I-MAK, a US-based non-profit, 13 per cent of the HIV patients across the world also have HCV.
Homa Mansoor, a physician engaged in treating HCV patients under the care of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), an international non-profit working for the medically deprived, says the treatment of HCV is exorbitant. According to Loon Gangte of Delhi Network of Positive People, a non-profit working for the rights of HIV positive people, the cost of the entire treatment is Rs 4 lakh to Rs 5 lakh. Gangte says that it is not possible for a common man to bear the cost without assistance from the government. A year ago, Gangte and a few other activists met Planning Commission member Sayeda Hameed to raise the issue. Gangte says that she assured the matter would be discussed with health department officials but nothing has happened so far.
There are no Central government schemes to deal with HCV, but a few states in the Northeast have launched some initiatives. The number of HCV-infected people in the northeast is higher than in the rest of the country, according to a study by Ashis Mukhopadhya, a Kolkata-based physician. His paper refers to a previous study done in 2001 which found the incidence of HCV in Arunachal Pradesh to be 7.89 per cent. Mukhopadhya’s study was published in the Journal of Bioscience in 2008.
In June 2013, the Meghalaya government assured treatment to HIV and HCV co-infected people. At that time there were only seven HIV-HCV co-infected patients registered under the government’s anti-retroviral treatment scheme for HIV positive people. The government decided to finance the treatment of two out of these seven in the first phase and purchased drugs for a three-month course. The most common treatment for HCV includes one injection of peg-IFN-alpha (interferon) every week and daily oral dose of ribavirin.
The state government bought the drugs from India-based pharma company Zydus Cadila Healthcare Ltd at the rate of Rs 9,200 per vial for the two patients. Hepatitis C Coalition of Meghalaya (Hep.Com), a group of people fighting for the rights of HCV patients in the state, tried to negotiate with Zydus on the price and managed to get it reduced to Rs 5,200 per vial. Zydus offered to provide diagnostic support as well. Hep.Com also wrote to the state government on 3 January 2014, saying the three-month medication to the selected patients would do more harm than good because if there is a more than two-day break in medication the entire course goes waste and there is a chance of the patients developing resistance to the drugs.
K Priyokumar Singh, retired physician from J N Hospital, Manipur, who claims to have treated 250 HCV cases in the state, says, ‘Sometimes, we counsel patients to go for treatment only if they can afford the complete course. Otherwise, there is fear that drug resistance can develop.’
The high cost of the drug seems to be the reason behind the government’s apathy. E Dkhar, director of health services, Meghalaya, denies having information on the government’s decision to provide treatment to co-infected people. But as per the minutes of a health department meeting held on 28 June 2013, the government has decided to provide treatment to co-infected people.
By arrangement with Down to Earth magazine
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