HCMSG - Hepatitis C Mentor & Support Group, Inc.
Search
  • About Us
    • Our Mission
    • Board of Directors
    • Medical Advisors
  • Resources
    • Corona Virus
    • Hep C Facts & Stats
    • Medications and Treatments >
      • Patient Assistance Programs
    • Reading
    • Links
  • Programs/Training
    • The Circle Model >
      • THE CIRCLE Registration
      • Group and Facilitator Guide
    • Hepatitis C Online Training
    • The Hepatitis C Education and Support Group Assistance Program
    • Healthcare Provider Training
  • Newsletter
  • Blog
  • Support Us
    • Holiday 2020
  • Contact Us

New Hepatitis resolution is passed at World Health Assembly; challenges World Health Organization and member states to act

5/23/2014

1 Comment

 

Geneva, Switzerland, May 22, 2014 —Today, four years after introducing its first viral hepatitis resolution, the World Health Assembly (WHA)—the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO)—passed the Hepatitis Resolution, which commits the WHO and United Nations (UN) member states to urgent action to address the global hepatitis pandemic, including that of hepatitis C virus (HCV).

Globally, an estimated 185 million people have been infected with HCV. Since 2010, more than a million of them have died from HCV-related liver disease, although hepatitis C is treatable and curable. Since 2010, 9–12 million people have become infected with hepatitis C, although it is preventable. In addition, in an increasing number of countries, liver disease caused by HCV has become the leading cause of non-AIDS-related death in people coinfected with HIV/HCV.

The resolution comes at a critical moment, as new drugs to treat HCV are hepatitis C virus (HCV) entering the market. These new drugs, called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), demonstrate cure rates of more than 90 percent in clinical trials and provide radically simpler treatment. DAAs offer the unprecedented promise of global HCV eradication, especially in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where 85 percent of people with HCV live.
 
Yet, in high-income countries, a 12-week combination regimen of DAA treatment can cost US$140,000, although it costs less than US$250 to produce.
[1] During the resolution proceedings, dozens of countries, including Malaysia, Ukraine, South Africa, Venezuela, and France remarked on the prohibitive cost of new HCV treatments.

The World Trade Organization’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) provides LMICs with certain legal flexibilities. The Hepatitis Resolution supports LMICs’ use of these flexibilities to produce or import generic versions of DAAs and other medications if companies refuse to offer them at affordable prices. Brazil, the sponsor of the resolution, which was unanimously voted in, stated during the vote that governments, “should use TRIPs flexibilities whenever needed” in order to gain access to safe, effective, quality generics.
 
The WHO must vocally and unequivocally support countries’ use of compulsory licenses, parallel importation, and other TRIPs flexibilities to facilitate universal access to lifesaving treatment and to stop the 500,000 annual deaths related to HCV.

The inclusion of harm reduction—an evidence-based approach to reducing transmission of bloodborne viruses and mortality among people who inject drugs (PWID)— is retained in this resolution as a key recommendation, despite early opposition by some countries. During the vote, a number of governments, including Indonesia, Iran, Russia, and Canada spoke out on the need to address PWID as a key population. Now the WHO must prioritize providing technical assistance to UN member states to dramatically scale up needle and syringe programs, opioid substitution therapy, access to HCV treatment, and decriminalization of PWID and harm reduction for this critically important population, 67 percent of whom are HCV-infected. Most new infections occur among PWID, yet access to sterile injection equipment and other HCV prevention tools is staggeringly inadequate, reaching only a tiny percentage of those who need it. This egregious public health failure allows the epidemic to continue spreading.
 
The Hepatitis Resolution challenges WHO Director–General Margaret Chan and her agency to mobilize global political will and resources to effectively address viral hepatitis, and to help UN member states develop the technical capacity to implement prevention, treatment, and care plans. Without a massive resource investment from donors and UN member states to support a global plan, millions will continue to become infected and die.

Contacts
:
Ms. Chloé Forette, Médecins du Monde, +33-609-537-369  (France)
Ms. Karyn Kaplan, Treatment Action Group, +1-646-316-8979 (United States)
 
For further information on key issues concerning the Hepatitis Resolution at the World Health Assembly, please see: Defuse hepatitis C, the viral time bomb: Test and Treat Hepatitis C: Position Paper for the 67th World Health Assembly, May 19–24, 2014. Available at:
http://www.hepcoalition.org/advocate/advocacy-tools/article/defuse-hepatitis-c-the-viral-time.


 

[1] Hill A, Khoo S, Fortunak J, Simmons B, Ford N. Minimum costs for producing hepatitis C direct-acting antivirals for use in large-scale treatment access programs in developing countries. Clin Infect Dis. 2014 Feb 13. 2014 Apr; 58(7):928–36. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciu012.



1 Comment
y9 link
9/7/2014 05:04:11 pm

I love to read this type of material Good and attractive information I take from it..Thank you for posting such a good article.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Privacy Policy