Living Without HepC

I have recently been getting comments and emails asking for information or advice about HepC. It is very flattering that people might think my experience can be helpful to them. I need to point out, however, that I have no medical expertise or qualification to be commenting on HepC - I do so only from my own personal experience. AND, what I write in this blog may not even be accurate or comprehensible - just look at the last entry to see what I mean!!

Having said that, I am very moved by the issues which people raise and their circumstances in trying to deal with HepC issues. Faeeza recently wrote a comment on this blog:

hi Ron,
I am a desperate sister whose young brother is a drug adddict and is touched with hep C While surfing I”ve come across your journal which is great I appreciate your effort and experience which you have shared with others, especially in countries like mine where no such treatment is available and if so is very costly. I”ll get all your work printed and I’ll read again carefully, may be I can in turn help others fighting with the virus. People is not totally aware of the disease and so on. Here they only know that all drug users have it some may live while others are doomed to die after some years. well Ron only those who suffer an ilness can exactly tell you what it is going though it. It kill an entire family just like actually we are undergoing.
good luck Ron and God help you in your work. One question how much does it cost to treat someone with hep c in your country? please reply soon bye

I hardly know where to begin to reply to this. At one level, I can say that I understand (although I cannot say with absolute certainty) the cost of drugs to the NHS for my 48 week treatment is in the area of £15k - that’s without the costs of tests, clinic staff, medical consultations, etc. And the financial cost to me has only been my contributions to the NHS over my working life. The NHS does not charge me for the drugs they prescribe.

However, I also know that drugs are sometimes priced differently in other countries (for example, we read that drug companies have agreed to make some medications, such as those for HIV, available to certain countries cheaper) - and that different drugs can be used to treat HepC (not just the Pegasys and Copegus that I am on).

So I am not sure this is a helpful simple answer to Faeeza’s query on the cost of drugs.

It’s the part where Faeeza describes herself as ‘desperate’ and her entire family is being ‘killed’ living with this issue - and in a country where there is no treatment, that I find difficult to respond to. This is very painful to think about. I feel very fortunate to live in a place where I can get help. Although we can, of course, throw brickbats about the inertia in this country on the issue of HepC, we are nonetheless eligible for treatment and for help. I also find it very humbling to think that someone would print out the pages of this blog as a means to learning how to help people who have no access to medical treatment.

Sometimes I hardly know what to say…..

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 15th, 2005 at 8:06 pm and is filed under Journal. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.