Viral Hepatitis Prevention Coordinators, a Vital CDC Program Helping to Achieve the Goals of the Viral Hepatitis Action Plan

Viral Hepatitis Prevention Coordinators (VHPCs) are vital to the implementation of the nation’s Action Plan for the Prevention, Care, & Treatment of Viral Hepatitis, and ultimately, achievement of 3 of the national goals of reducing viral hepatitis transmission and disease:

• Increase the proportion of persons who are aware of their hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection,
• Increase the proportion of persons who are aware of their hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, and
• Reduce the number of new cases of HCV infection. 

Funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and positioned within state and local health departments, VHPCs serve over 50 jurisdictions around the country including 48 states and several major cities. Because each community is unique, VHPCs evaluate local data to tailor prevention activities for their jurisdictions and seek local partnerships and resources to implement these activities where they are most needed.  Since the program began more than a decade ago, the coordinators have improved the effectiveness of viral hepatitis prevention activities, identifying ways to integrate viral hepatitis prevention vaccination, testing, and linkage to care within existing public health, clinical care, and community settings. A recent report on the VHPC program, “Accomplishments of the Viral Hepatitis Prevention Coordinator Initiative, 2008-2012,” outlines the program, describes the scope of activities, and highlights examples of outcomes. 

- See more at: http://blog.aids.gov/2015/01/viral-hepatitis-prevention-coordinators-a-vital-cdc-program-helping-to-achieve-the-goals-of-the-viral-hepatitis-action-plan.html#sthash.BMDb736x.dpuf

At $594 Per Dose Gilead Sciences, Inc. (GILD) Hepatitis Drug Is Too Costly For Veterans Affairs Department

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ:GILD)‘s hepatitis C drug Sovaldi, which comes at a cost of $1,000 a pill, has proved to be a breakthrough that reduces treatment time to 12 weeks and at reduced risk compared to a year-long treatment option available. However, this heavily-priced therapy has raised concerns and criticisms across the U.S. by payers and consumer support groups.

To consider the impact of Sovaldi’s $84,000 12-week treatment cost, the Veterans Affairs Department provides this therapy only to the sickest patients who need it. The Department is the largest single provider of hepatitis C care in the U.S., which enabled it to negotiate more than 40% discount to the $594 per-dose price with Gilead.

VA and Hepatitis C Care

The Veterans Affairs Department added Sovaldi to its formulary in April 2014. It treated around 5,400 veterans at a cost of $370 million with Sovaldi in fiscal 2014, and has asked Congress for $1.3 billion to treat another 30,000 patients with Sovaldi and other new hepatitis C drugs.

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Anthem selects Gilead as primary supplier of hepatitis C drugs

Jan 8 (Reuters) - Health insurer Anthem Inc on Thursday said it reached a deal under which Gilead Sciences Inc's hepatitis C drug Harvoni will be the primary treatment for patients infected with the most common strain of the liver-destroying virus.

Anthem said the deal effectively lowers its hepatitis C treatment costs. "We were able to achieve a very competitive rate and a freeze on retail pricing for 2015," the insurer said in an emailed statement. "That does favorably impact plan costs for 2015."

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Resolved For 2015: No More Hepatitis C

As we enter 2015, nonprofit organizations that specialize in health advocacy start to compile lists of ambitious resolutions for the New Year. They pledge to spread the word more widely than ever about a particular cause, to exert influence over lawmakers, and to enlist more scientists, advocates and donors in the latest public health crusade.

And I, as executive director of just such a nonprofit, could do the same. I could give you a rundown on our own resolutions to end the infectious disease known as hepatitis C.

Instead, I'm going to be really presumptuous. I'm going to take the liberty of making resolutions on behalf of others. I'll spell out the vows that I believe all the key stakeholders in the fight against hepatitis C should follow in the year ahead.

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Stephanie Goldberg Widow of health care worker who died of hepatitis C due workers comp benefits

The widow of a heath care worker who died from complications related to his hepatitis C is entitled to benefits despite the fact that the man received a blood transfusion in 1970 that his employer argued could have given him the disease, the Missouri Court of Appeals has ruled.

Stephen Smith worked for Capital Region Medical Center in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a medical laboratory technician from 1969 until March 2006, court records show.

Mr. Smith and other health care workers didn't wear protective equipment while handling blood and human tissue before safety measures were implemented in the 1980s or 1990s, according to court records. They also used a narrow glass straw, known as a pipette, to prepare blood slides by placing one end in a tube of blood and sucking on the other end to draw blood into it, records show.

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Hepatitis C Drug Discount Deals Still Miss Many Patients

Of the estimated three million Americans estimated to have Hepatitis C, about one-third are covered by Medicaid, according to industry reports. About 70 percent of Medicaid recipients are covered by managed care plans, according to Medicaid Health Plans of America, a trade group representing private health plans that contract with health insurance programs for the poor to administer their medical benefits.

Jeff Myers, chief executive officer for Medicaid Health Plans of America called the CVS Health and Express Scripts deals a “fantastic first step in bringing pricing rationality for this population.”

“But unfortunately the prices we’re starting from are at such a ridiculously high level because of the pharmaceutical companies’ pricing model that states still will find it difficult to manage these treatment costs,” Myers said in a statement to Forbes.

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At The Crossroads, Part 8: Fueled By Opioid Abuse, New Hep C Infections Rise

In 2014, hundreds of Rhode Islanders died from accidental drug overdoses.  Thousands more remain addicted to prescription painkillers and heroin. For those who inject the drugs, there’s another risk: hepatitis C.

In the final story in our series “At the Crossroads,” we meet a team of outreach workers determined to find new infections before it’s too late.

Listen to the podcast and read the transcript here....