Some hepatitis C patients will be able to obtain new, advanced medication through the government health service through an agreement reached with the suppliers and manufacturers to provide the drug at “exceptional rates”.
The negotiations were facilitated by the Malta Community Chest Fund and the Office of the President, which also donated €1.2 million worth of the hepatitis C medication Harvoni to the government’s Health Department.
President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said yesterday the MCCF had managed to obtain the medication free of charge following negotiations with global manufacturers Gilead and local suppliers AM Mangion.
Harvoni was added to the World Health Organisation’s essential medicines list last May. According to Health Parliamentary Secretary Chris Fearne, the drug has a success rate of 95 to 97 per cent, compared to 50 to 60 per cent for medications used to date.
However, Mr Fearne would not reveal how much the government would pay for the medication under the negotiated rates, insisting the agreement was commercially sensitive.
The medication will be placed in government stock and distributed according to established protocols
Hepatitis C patients have so far been denied access to necessary medication because of cost-cutting measures, according to an investigation carried out by the Ombudsman last August.
The parliamentary secretary yesterday declined to say how long the MCCF donation would last, or how many patients it would help.
However, at the time of the Ombudsman’s report, Mr Fearne said that giving hepatitis C patients Harvoni would cost as much as €90 million every year, with the Ombudsman citing €75,000 per patient.
“The medication will be placed in government stock and distributed according to established protocols. Not every patient will require the same amount of medication,” he said.
There are around 1,000 hepatitis C patients on the island, many of whom are drug users who contracted the illness through sharing needles.
The Ombudsman’s report found that about 20 per cent of patients would develop liver failure or cancer if untreated. He said there were about 35 patients who needed to start receiving the treatment as soon as possible, at a cost in the region of €2.6 million.