PERSONS living with Hepatitis C will soon have their treatment fully funded by the Government of Guyana, as the Ministry of Health partners with the Pan American Health Organisation (PAHO) to ensure treatment is provided.
Speaking at a ‘mini’ health fair recently, Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony acknowledged the challenges experienced by persons living with Hepatitis C, including the cost of treatment.
“On average, at one point in time, to treat a person with ‘Hep-C’ was about US$80,000; that came down to about US$20,000, and now it is about US$2,000,” Dr. Anthony said.
The minister further explained that this initiative is part of the Government of Guyana’s strategy to reduce the spread of Hepatitis C, which, in the long-term, can cause non-chronic diseases, including cancer.
“We are bringing the treatment to Guyana at a high cost, because these things are not cheap. But again, if we prevent it from happening, then we will be in a better position. But those who are already infected, we are going to start a programme where we are going to treat these diseases. By treating them, we are preventing them from getting hepatic cancers, because the natural course of this is that it moves from an acute ‘Hep-C’ infection to chronic Hep-C infection, over the years it will then become cancerous.”
Dr. Anthony noted that “the medication that we are using is about 90-something per cent effective, so that’s why we have taken a decision that we will be bringing in these ‘meds’; we will be starting treatment for those patients that we have on the database. So, in a couple months’ time, we will start that process.”
Hepatitis C is a viral infection that can cause liver inflammation (though not always). The virus is usually spread through contaminated blood, and can be sexually transmitted.
The virus can begin with an acute phase, which can go undetected, but may have symptoms like jaundice, fatigue, fever, muscle aches, or nausea. In Guyana, Dr. Anthony explained, one of the most common methods of detection is by way of blood screening at the Ministry of Health’s blood transfusion facilities.
“We have been detecting patients through our blood transfusion services, so when we screen somebody who donated blood, we normally screen for a number of diseases, including ‘Hep-C’. And when the blood tests positive for ‘Hep-C’, we call those persons in, and we tell them that we have detected ‘Hep-C’ and counsel them on the precautions to take,” the health minister said.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), more than 350 million people are living with this disease, globally.
According to a statement from the World Hepatitis Summit 2022, “Stigma and discrimination continue to be a barrier to testing and care. Only 10% and 21% of people know that they live with chronic hepatitis B or hepatitis C, respectively, even fewer receive treatment, and liver cancer related to hepatitis is on an exponential rise, especially in low and middle-income countries.” (DPI)