HEPATITIS C patients will have better access to treatments after the approval of two new drugs for the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.
The federal government announced last Tuesday that telaprevir and boceprevir would be placed on the PBS after months of lobbying by health workers.
As reported by the Weekly, the new drugs have been found to reduce treatment times and increase cure rates.
Dr Alex Thompson, head of hepatology research at St Vincents Hospital, which runs a hepatitis clinic at Werribee, said telaprevir and boceprevir were raising cure rates from 40 per cent to 80 per cent for chronic hepatitis C.
Hepatitis Victoria chief executive Melanie Eagle, who chaired a western suburbs roundtable discussion earlier this month, said telaprevir and boceprevir would have “real life impacts” on patients. The organisation says infection rates are on the rise in the western suburbs, as is the number of patients needing treatment.
Maribyrnong has the third-highest rate of hepatitis infections in metropolitan Melbourne, followed by Brimbank. Wyndham, Hume and Melton have been found to have large populations of at-risks groups.
Ms Eagle said the drugs would offer patients hope. “They are a more successful and less intrusive form of treatment. We’re urging people with hepatitis to make an appointment with their doctor and discuss these new treatments now.”
Prime Minister and Lalor MP Julia Gillard said that by listing the drugs on the PBS, the federal government was preventing people with hepatitis C from paying up to $78,000 a year for treatment.
