A conference of international advisers has been held in the frames of the Hepatitis C Elimination Program of Georgia. The international partners will support and carry out consultations for implementing long-term strategies in monitoring, prevention and controlling systems.
The International Advisory Group, whose members are the heads of the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Emory and Hopkins Universities, World Health Organization and other international partners, attended the conference. They aim to encourage development of Hepatitis C elimination and also to increase public awareness.
The results of the Hepatitis C Elimination Program and its current conditions were discussed. According to the Ministry of Healthcare, 130-150 million people suffer from Hepatitis C and, in the WHO’s criteria, Georgia is considered as a high-prevalence country
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Thursday, November 5, 2015
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
New Syringe Design Not Particularly Effective at Curbing Spread of Hepatitis C Virus
As many as 21 million people worldwide inject drugs, putting them at heightened risk for infection from blood-borne pathogens such as the hepatitis C virus (HCV), especially if syringes are shared.
A newer type of syringe designed to reduce HCV transmission by decreasing the so-called dead space—the volume that exists between the syringe hub and needle in comparison to standard and widely used high dead space designs—is not particularly effective, a new Yale School of Public Health-led study has found.
The research is published today in the journal PLOS ONE.
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A newer type of syringe designed to reduce HCV transmission by decreasing the so-called dead space—the volume that exists between the syringe hub and needle in comparison to standard and widely used high dead space designs—is not particularly effective, a new Yale School of Public Health-led study has found.
The research is published today in the journal PLOS ONE.
Read more....
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Hepatitis C patients who use drugs need multidisciplinary treatment: B.C. study
Treating patients with hepatitis C who inject illegal drugs using only medication is ineffective without also addressing the complex social issues they face, finds a new study from the University of Victoria.
Although new hepatitis C drugs can cure the liver-wasting disease in most patients, new research suggests the treatment does little to help patients who inject drugs, some of society’s most vulnerable citizens who are also the most challenging to help.
“There’s quite a bit of attention to medical advances (in hepatitis C treatment), but it doesn’t really impact the people most affected (by hepatitis C),” said Bruce Wallace, co-author of the study and an assistant professor at UVic’s School of Social Work. “People are being excluded from access to treatment and it is the people who need it the most.
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Although new hepatitis C drugs can cure the liver-wasting disease in most patients, new research suggests the treatment does little to help patients who inject drugs, some of society’s most vulnerable citizens who are also the most challenging to help.
“There’s quite a bit of attention to medical advances (in hepatitis C treatment), but it doesn’t really impact the people most affected (by hepatitis C),” said Bruce Wallace, co-author of the study and an assistant professor at UVic’s School of Social Work. “People are being excluded from access to treatment and it is the people who need it the most.
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Advocates work on stigma, treatment of hepatitis C
Like many hepatitis C patients, Anthony Lo Russo, 64, lived with the virus for years before he knew he had it. Even after a routine blood test flagged it in 1995, he eschewed hep C drugs because of their side effects. “I felt fine, so I waited,” Lo Russo said.
After the 2013 introduction of kinder drugs, Lo Russo agreed to a standard 16-week treatment. Two weeks into it, he heard the word that’s music to hep C patients’ ears; his blood was “clear” of hep C. He was cured.
“I’m happy to be alive,” said Lo Russo, of Lake Worth, Fla. He bowls in three leagues, swims and chats with fellow patients on Facebook.
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After the 2013 introduction of kinder drugs, Lo Russo agreed to a standard 16-week treatment. Two weeks into it, he heard the word that’s music to hep C patients’ ears; his blood was “clear” of hep C. He was cured.
“I’m happy to be alive,” said Lo Russo, of Lake Worth, Fla. He bowls in three leagues, swims and chats with fellow patients on Facebook.
Read more....
Monday, November 2, 2015
Primrose Healthcare Provides an Innovative Calculator Tool, Giving Insight into the Costs of Hepatitis C beyond Anti-Virals First-in-industry tool for payers
PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Primrose Healthcare has just launched an innovative calculator tool to help health insurers and other payers uncover and better understand the total costs associated with the hepatitis C virus (HCV) within their populations. The calculator references the data and analysis from the Milliman, Inc. study, “The burden of hepatitis C virus disease in commercial and managed Medicaid populations,” and other user-input assumptions to estimate costs for a payer’s specific population.
While many payers may concentrate on managing anti-viral medication treatment costs, they may not closely focus on the underlying medical cost drivers within the population. The calculator analysis provides payers with a complete picture of typical non-antiviral treatment costs, including prevalence and key cost drivers such as stage of liver disease (i.e. chronic HCV, cirrhosis, etc.), other non-antiviral medication treatment costs and medical costs.
“Calculator analyses run to date clearly show that new medication treatments are not the only reason for high costs among the HCV populations,” said Henri Cournand, CEO of Primrose Healthcare. “Payers focused on medication costs alone are missing out on a valuable opportunity to improve health and reduce per-member-per-month costs related to managing these patients. This really comes to light when you consider that the average annual incremental non-antiviral drug medical costs for an individual with HCV are $21,888—four times higher than those without HCV.
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While many payers may concentrate on managing anti-viral medication treatment costs, they may not closely focus on the underlying medical cost drivers within the population. The calculator analysis provides payers with a complete picture of typical non-antiviral treatment costs, including prevalence and key cost drivers such as stage of liver disease (i.e. chronic HCV, cirrhosis, etc.), other non-antiviral medication treatment costs and medical costs.
“Calculator analyses run to date clearly show that new medication treatments are not the only reason for high costs among the HCV populations,” said Henri Cournand, CEO of Primrose Healthcare. “Payers focused on medication costs alone are missing out on a valuable opportunity to improve health and reduce per-member-per-month costs related to managing these patients. This really comes to light when you consider that the average annual incremental non-antiviral drug medical costs for an individual with HCV are $21,888—four times higher than those without HCV.
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Saturday, October 31, 2015
Up to 4,800 patients potentiall exposed to hepatitis C at Ogden hospital
OGDEN — Up to 4,800 people may have been exposed to hepatitis C by a now-fired nurse at McKay-Dee Hospital between June 2013 and November 2014, according to the Standard Examiner.
Per information released by the hospital Friday, 49-year-old nurse Elet Neilson (also known as Elet Hamblin), of Layton, was released in November 2014 after her admission of diverting emergency department drugs intended for patients, the Examiner reports. Neilson and a patient treated in the emergency department were both infected with the same hepatitis genotype, the Utah Department of Health reported, and the infections could be connected.
Due to concerns of exposure to the virus, letters to 4,800 people who may have been in contact with either individual were sent out Friday, the Examiner reports. It was unclear who infected whom or the method by which the infection took place, a hospital spokesman said, and officials are unsure if the disease has spread further.
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Per information released by the hospital Friday, 49-year-old nurse Elet Neilson (also known as Elet Hamblin), of Layton, was released in November 2014 after her admission of diverting emergency department drugs intended for patients, the Examiner reports. Neilson and a patient treated in the emergency department were both infected with the same hepatitis genotype, the Utah Department of Health reported, and the infections could be connected.
Due to concerns of exposure to the virus, letters to 4,800 people who may have been in contact with either individual were sent out Friday, the Examiner reports. It was unclear who infected whom or the method by which the infection took place, a hospital spokesman said, and officials are unsure if the disease has spread further.
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Medicaid officials want to expand access to pricey hepatitis C drug
Health care officials in Washington state thought thousands of Medicaid patients would line up to receive a breakthrough hepatitis C treatment that went on the market late last year.
Yet by June, the state had treated only a third as many hepatitis C patients as it had planned for — about 1,200 people.
Now, the state’s Medicaid authority wants to use the $44 million it didn’t spend over the past year to start covering the drug for a wider range of patients, instead of just the sickest ones.
State officials estimate about 75,000 to 100,000 people in Washington have hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that can cause liver failure or liver cancer if left untreated. Nationwide, many people living with the disease are low-income patients who are eligible for Medicaid, officials said.
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Yet by June, the state had treated only a third as many hepatitis C patients as it had planned for — about 1,200 people.
Now, the state’s Medicaid authority wants to use the $44 million it didn’t spend over the past year to start covering the drug for a wider range of patients, instead of just the sickest ones.
State officials estimate about 75,000 to 100,000 people in Washington have hepatitis C, a blood-borne virus that can cause liver failure or liver cancer if left untreated. Nationwide, many people living with the disease are low-income patients who are eligible for Medicaid, officials said.
Read more....
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