Indian government asked to treat Hepatitis with oral drugs

Published: 8-Jul-2014
Regulatory

Criticised for its \'lacklustre\' attitude towards oral drug treatment options


The Indian Ministry of Health is coming under renewed pressure to roll out oral drugs for Hepatitis C (HCV), since they are more easily available in India, and to promise to simplify and improve treatment.

The call was issued by the Delhi Network of Positive People, a non governmental organisation, which felt that the government has displayed a lacklustre attitude towards oral drug treatment options in its programme compared with other available treatments.

The government and treatment providers are apparently being deterred by the complexities and costs associated with the current injectable treatment.

But new direct acting antiviral agents (DAAs), including sofosbuvir approved by the US FDA in December 2013, and many others in late stage development, can be produced generically in India and marketed at very affordable prices, just like the antiretrovirals (ARVs) used in the treatment of HIV.

Hepatitis C has been identified as a public health issue especially due to the lack of affordable treatment. According to the World Health Organisation, 150 million people are chronically infected with Hepatitis C and every year it kills nearly 500,000 people. The highest number of people living with Hepatitis C are in China (29.7 million), India (18.2 million), Egypt (11.8 million), Indonesia (9.43 million) and Pakistan (9.42 million).

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