Patents drive up treatment costs of Hepatitis C

As board member of the Network of Maharashtra People Living with HIV, Manoj Pardesi, is confronted with the twin challenges of helping people fight HIV and Hepatitis C.

Of the two, the latter is a much bigger monster, he says. “Hepatitis C is a completely neglected disease. There is no government support, no vaccine, and existing medicines are incredibly expensive,” says Pardesi. There are at least government programmes rolling out treatment for HIV, he adds.

Various estimates peg the number of people infected with Hepatitis C — a liver disease that spreads when drug users share needles or when people use unsterilised needles for tattooing and body piercing — to be over 12 million in India.

And the cost of the medication, pegylated interferon, ranges from Rs6,40,000 to Rs7,40,000 per annum.

Eldred Tellis, founder director of Mumbai based Sankalp Rehabilitation Trust, which supports HIV and Hepatitis C patients, says that despite Hepatitis C medicines existing in the market,
patients cannot be treated as they are very costly.

The medicines are patented, thereby giving absolute monopoly to the manufacturers holding the patent to charge any amount, he says.

And, if left untreated, the health condition of roughly one third of the Hepatitis C patients deteriorates to liver cirrhosis (which leads to loss of liver function) in less than 20 years.

Hepatitis C patient Haobam Nanao, who is originally from Bangkok and has been working for Coalition of Asia Pacific Regional Network on HIV/AIDS, came to India some months ago in the hope of getting low-cost treatment. But on landing in Imphal, he realised that the actual cost in India is far from low. He has now depending on funds from well wishers to support his treatment costs.

Experts say that, like HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis C is widely spread. However, unlike the former, which has managed to garner support from government and independent financiers, Hepatitis C patients are yet to find significant support.

“Hepatitis C lies neglected as it mostly affects injectable-drug users, whom none seem to care for. Countless patients die every year and their deaths don’t seem to move anyone to take up this issue and fight on a national level for access to treatment,” says Deepak Leimapokpam, an injecting drug user from Manipur who suffers from hepatitis C.

“Of the more than 300 people with Hepatitis C whom I know, just two-three are on treatment,” says Leimapokpam, who is with the Manipur Network for Positive People.

Leimapokpam says he spends about Rs14,000-15,000 for a vial of the medicine per week. The duration of the Hepatitis C treatment is often 48 weeks.