Hepatitis C patients have started receiving treatment as part of government efforts to eradicate the illness, Health Minister Chris Fearne said today.

Addressing a press conference at Mater Dei Hospital, Mr Fearne said he was confident the illness could be wiped out in around two years.

Twenty five patients are currently receiving treatment, he said, with many more slated to begin treatment soon.

Around 1,000 people are currently believed to be suffering from Hepatitis C, however, just 200 are currently “on the books”, Mr Fearne said.

The government will be treating confirmed cases first and eventually be rolling out screening to identify other sufferers, who might not yet know they have the viral illness.

The issue of Hepatitis C was flagged by the Ombudsman back in 2015 in a report that revealed how some 1,000 patients were being deprived of treatment because of high cost.

The medicine, Harvoni Regime, had at the time cost a staggering €75,000 per patient and although it was added to the schedule of medicines in the Social Security Act back in 2012 it was not given out as the government simply could not afford to purchase it.

At the time priority patients started being given the medication, however, the authorities said it was far too expensive to roll out to all those diagnosed.

A solution was eventually found to the medication cost problem last year when the government had found a way to get the medication at a drastically reduced price.

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