Newly Funded Hepatitis C Treatment Will Help Curb New Zealand's Silent Epidemic
From the 1st of September hepatitis C sufferers will have a new treatment option thanks to VICTRELIS (boceprevir) being funded for people with chronic viral hepatitis C, genotype 1. This includes patients being treated for the first time as well as those who have not responded to previous therapy.
VICTRELIS is the first new hepatitis C treatment made available to New Zealanders in the last decade. Chronic hepatitis C (HCV) is a serious viral infection of the liver that affects around 50,000 New Zealanders.
Hepatitis C genotype 1 is the most common form of the condition affecting approximately 50% of all known sufferers. If left untreated, hepatitis C can cause serious liver disease including cirrhosis, liver cancer and even death.
Professor Ed Gane, chief hepatologist and deputy director of the New Zealand Liver Transplant Unit at Auckland City Hospital says, VICTRELIS is a protease inhibitor and works directly on the hepatitis C virus to stop it replicating. It is used in combination with other drugs - peginterferon alfa and ribavirin which prevent the virus from becoming resistant to VICTRELIS.
When added to other hepatitis C drugs - peginterferon alfa and ribavirin; VICTRELIS dramatically increases the chances of being cured. In patients who have never been treated before, VICTRELIS can almost double cure rates and for patients who have already failed previous therapy, it can treble the cure rate. This can be life changing, especially for patients who have been the hardest to treat those with cirrhosis and those who have previously failed treatment.
Another advantage of VICTRELIS is that in almost half of the patients, total treatment time can be shortened from 48 weeks to 28 weeks.
Today, hepatitis C cirrhosis is the leading cause of liver cancer and liver failure. By offering a new chance of a cure, we can help prevent progression of liver disease, thereby reducing the rate of liver cancer and the need for liver transplants in New Zealand.
New Zealand Hepatitis Foundation Chief Executive Officer, John Hornell, says It is fantastic to be able to offer hepatitis C patients a treatment that improves their chances of being cured. Hepatitis C is a disease many people are unaware of and even if they do know about it, they are unsure of treatment options. This means patients often present late with severe complications making the disease more difficult to treat and cure.
We estimate there are 50,000 New Zealanders who have contracted hepatitis C with less than 25% being diagnosed. However thanks to new and more effective treatment options, there is no reason why people should not be diagnosed, treated and cured. However it is important to identify if you have been at risk and to get tested.
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Newly Funded Hepatitis C Treatment Will Help Curb Epidemic