Since 2014 when I learned that I was infected with Hepatitis C the single BIG issue has been the price of Hepatitis C treatment. Back in 2014 the only treatment option was Sovaldi or Interferon. Sovaldi cost US$84,000 for a 12 week treatment and Interferon cost about US$40,000 for a treatment.
I could not afford Sovaldi and there was no way I would consider doing the Interferon treatment; my only option was to manage my Hep C through lifestyle choices.
Fortunately for me generic Sovaldi was released in India in May 2015 and I was able to afford the $1,000 for the treatment plus the extra $2,000 it cost me to fly to India and stay there for a week to get the Sovaldi.
This experience made me acutely aware of how critical the pricing of Hepatitis C drugs was for people who had Hepatitis C and did not have access to the medication through some form of health insurance.
Since 2015 I have dedicated my life to making affordable Hepatitis C treatment available to people. Initially this was to people in “First World” countries like Australia, the USA and Europe, however as my work expanded I became more and more aware of how difficult things were for impoverished people with Hepatitis C.
For people in impoverished situations even the relatively low cost of generic Hepatitis C medication is beyond their reach.
Poor people living in poverty have no disposable income, they have no spare money to save. This applies whether they are poor people in rich countries or poor people in poor countries. Every bit of their income goes to meeting the basic requirements of living; food and shelter.
For these people even the $550 for 12 weeks of generic Sovaldi and Daklinza in an unreachable amount of money.
Click here to read more about Greg’s dreams and his proposed plan to bring affordable hep C treatment to those in need.
Greg’s blog is reprinted with permission, and the views are entirely his.
