News

Specialized NGOs state no treatment for hepatitis C in patients with HIV

• By Newsdesk
• Russia
• Apr 19, 2023

News

Russians with HIV are increasingly being denied free hepatitis C treatment, according to representatives of several specialised NGOs in a letter to Elena Astapenko, director of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation's Department for Regulation of the Circulation of Medicines and Medical Devices, and Elena Maksimkina, general director of the Federal Centre for Planning and Organisation of Medical Provision of Citizens.

The letter was signed by representatives of non-governmental organisations from the following Russian Federation regions: Moscow, St. Petersburg, Volgograd, Kaliningrad, Irkutsk, Kaluga, Omsk, and Oryol. It is clarified that the necessary drugs in the required quantity have not been purchased; however, the Ministry of Health claims that the situation is under control.

According to the letter's authors, problems began as early as 2022, when auctions for the purchase of only 44% of drugs for the treatment of chronic viral hepatitis were completed. The medical supply situation deteriorated in 2023. We're talking about over 300,000 needy Russians (the hepatitis C virus was found in 30% of HIV-infected people).

"The need for treatment of patients infected with the virus of the second and third genotypes, which account for approximately half of HCV patients in Russia," the appeal states.

Finally, the authors request that Astapenko and Maksimkina provide the necessary instructions to ensure the provision of hepatitis C therapy to HIV patients, as well as information on the timing and volume of such drug purchases.

Despite the fact that hepatitis C is curable and common, it was added to the Circle of Kindness Foundation's list of nosologies in March 2023. The foundation believes that this decision will result in the abolition of chronic viral hepatitis C in children.