Health insurance fund to cover several Hepatitis C drugs
Several new-generation drugs for hepatitis C treatment will be covered by the health insurance fund as part of a recently-released circular by the Ministry of Health.
A health worker collects a blood sample for hepatitis C test (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) - Several new-generationdrugs for hepatitis C treatment will be covered by the health insurance fund aspart of a recently-released circular by the Ministry of Health.
After consulting with experts and leadinghospitals, the health and insurance sector agreed to bring new drugs forhepatitis C treatment into the list of medicine covered by health insurancefund, said Prof. Nguyen Van Kinh, Director of the National Hospital of TropicalDiseases.
Kinh said that the new medications help shortentreatment duration because they are effective and have fewer side effects.
The inclusion of new drugs to treat hepatitis Con the list covered by health insurance opens more opportunities for Vietnamesepatients to access advanced treatments, he said.
Nguyen Trong Khoa, Deputy Director of the HealthMinistry’s Preventive Medicine Department, said Vietnam ranks 4th in the worldin terms of mortality from liver cancer. The country has about one millionpeople infected with hepatitis C virus and 10 million infected with hepatitisB, so the community’s need for treatment services is increasing day by day, hesaid.
The practice is an important milestone toachieve the goal to eliminate hepatitis by 2030 and reduce the burden of liverdiseases in Vietnam, said Khoa, adding that hepatitis C and hepatitis B are themain causes of liver diseases in Vietnam.
Antiviral medicines can cure more than 95 percentof people with hepatitis C, thereby reducing the risk of death from livercancer and cirrhosis, but access to diagnosis and treatment is low, accordingto Khoa.
Khoa said the Health Ministry also worked withforeign pharmaceutical companies to franchise drug production and boostproduction in Vietnam at a cheaper price, creating favourable conditions forpatients to access treatments for liver diseases.
Hepatitis C is a liver disease caused by hepatitisC virus, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to WHO, some 71 million people havechronic hepatitis C infections globally whereas about 399,000 people die eachyear from hepatitis C, mostly from cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma.-VNA
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A health worker collects a blood sample for hepatitis C test (Photo: VNA)
