Hepatitis C: Why people born 1945-1965 should get tested

The month of May is designated as Hepatitis Awareness Month.

During May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Douglas County Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health work to shed light on this hidden epidemic by raising awareness of viral hepatitis and encouraging individuals to get tested.

Douglas County Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health encourages you to take a five-minute online assessment developed by the CDC, which provides a personalized report on hepatitis testing and vaccination recommendations. To complete the assessment, visit www.cdc.gov/hepatitis/RiskAssessment or talk to your health care provider about hepatitis testing and your risks.

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India: Mylan launches hepatitis-C Sovaldi tablets in India

HYDERABAD: Pharma giant Mylan NV today said its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals has launched Gilead Sciences' Sovaldi (sofosbuvir 400mg tablets) in the country.

Sovaldi is used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis-C infection as a component of a combination anti-viral treatment.

It is estimated that around 12 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis-C in India, Mylan said in a release.

In February this year, Gilead appointed Mylan as its exclusive distributor of Sovaldi in India.

Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/47148108.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

Entering Leg 2 of syringe exchange triathlon

With law enacted, implementation adheres to prescribed steps

Indiana is about to legalize syringe exchange. This herculean bipartisan effort, led by Rep. Ed Clere, R-New Albany, enacted evidence-based public health policy in a state with a long-starved public health system.

As triathlons go, the syringe exchange legislative process was a tough first leg that will be followed by a second leg of policy implementation and a final leg of impact evaluation. We are now at T1 – that transition between Legs 1 and 2. And Leg 2 will be challenging.

Syringe exchange is part of a comprehensive public health effort to reduce HIV and hepatitis C among drug-injecting populations. Programs “exchange” sterile for used syringes, and link participants to screening and treatment for Hepatitis C and HIV, as well as substance abuse treatment. Studies over the past 30 years have demonstrated their effectiveness at reducing hepatitis C and HIV.

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Egypt: Locally manufactured Sovaldi to be released soon

CAIRO: The Egyptian market will receive a new batch of the hepatitis C treatment medication Sovaldi next June after being manufactured locally, Youm 7 reported Sunday.

Pharmed Healthcare Executive Director, Mohamed Mabrouk, said that his firm will deliver 500,000 bottles after being manufactured with local chemical materials.

“This step will give the Egyptian market an unprecedented motive,” he said.

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Pakistan: Every 10th Pakistani suffering from hepatitis

LAHORE - Every 10th person in the country is suffering from one type of hepatitis or the other and the viral infection varies in severity from a self-limited condition with total recovery to a life-threatening or lifelong disease.

Over 20 million people in Pakistan are infected with hepatitis B and C virus including around 15 million with C and five million with B and the disease is swelling at an alarming rate, medical experts say.

“Owing to lack of preventive measures and treatment facilities, hepatitis prevalence in Pakistan is the highest on the globe.

• Every 10th person is infected with hepatitis.
• Over 1.
• 5 lakh hepatitis patients die annually.
• As such over 400 people are losing life to hepatitis every day.
• Every year, over 1.
• 5 lakh Hepatitis patients are added to the existing patient load,” said senior consultant and Principal Gujranwala Medical College Prof Aftab Mohsan.

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Fifth patient dosed with 'one-shot' drug in HCV trial

The fifth and final patient in the phase 1/2a clinical trial of TT-034, a ddRNAi-based therapeutic to treat hepatitis C virus infection, has been dosed, according to a news release from Benitec Biopharma Limited.

The phase 1/2 clinical trial being conducted at the Duke Clinical Research Unit of Duke Clinical Research Institute is an open-label dose escalation study that evaluates the safety and activity of single doses of TT-034 (Benitec), a potential treatment for HCV with a single-dose administration, in patients with chronic HCV genotype 1 infection who have failed previous treatments, according to the Duke Clinical Research Unit website. The trial consists of 14 patients in five sequential dose cohorts.

Patients in cohort two received an increased dose of TT-034 that was a half-log higher than patients dosed in the first cohort, according to the release. The dose level was still below the concentration expected to inhibit HCV viral replication, according to the release.

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Australia: 'Like night and day' – calls for federal government to approve new Hep C drugs

Advocates in Canberra have called on the government to urgently subsidise new, advanced treatments for hepatitis C, saying each month they delay about 50 people die from the condition.

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee recommended on April 24 that three new antiviral medications, designed to treat hepatitis C, be considered for addition to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

Canberra Alliance for Harm Minimisation and Advocacy manager Sione Crawford, who lives with hepatitis C, said the difference between the new and old drugs was like "night and day".

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