Patients with hepatitis C now only have to pay half the cost of their medication.

In our country, hepatitis C patients now only have to pay about half the cost of medication, instead of paying 100% as before.

With the support of health insurance and pharmaceutical companies subsidizing medication costs, hepatitis C patients in Vietnam now only have to pay nearly half of their medication costs, instead of 100% as before. This information was presented at a training conference on infectious diseases organized by the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases and the Vietnam Infectious Diseases Association this morning (April 11) in Hung Yen.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Kinh, Director of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases

Hepatitis C is a common disease in our country, with a prevalence of 4% to 7% of the population infected with chronic hepatitis C, meaning that currently there are approximately 4 million people carrying the hepatitis C virus. There is no vaccine to prevent the disease, and it often presents with no clinical symptoms.

Many people are unaware they have the disease and don't seek treatment until serious consequences like cirrhosis and liver cancer occur, at which point it's often too late. With the current treatment protocol, which combines two drugs, Ribavirin and Peg-Interferon, more than 70% of patients will be cured of hepatitis C.

However, the cost of treating hepatitis C is very high, with a patient having to pay approximately 200 million VND per year, not including expensive tests such as viral load testing. Therefore, currently only about 2,000 patients nationwide have access to treatment. Meanwhile, as of October 2014, health insurance only partially covered the cost of hepatitis C medication. Even so, patients still face significant difficulties.

Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Van Kinh, Director of the Central Hospital for Tropical Diseases, said that the hospital has been and is looking for ways to help hepatitis C patients, aiming to increase the number of patients receiving treatment to 6,000 by the end of this year.

“We have negotiated with pharmaceutical companies to reduce the cost of diagnostic test kits and treatment drugs. As a result, pharmaceutical companies Roche and MSD have started implementing price reduction policies. For example, Roche has reduced drug prices by 25% to 28%. MSD has reduced drug prices by 11%, and patients who use three vials of medication receive one free, increasing patient access to treatment. In addition, the Health Insurance Fund also covers 30% of the cost for patients receiving treatment for Hepatitis C,” said Mr. Nguyen Van Kinh.

Currently, hepatitis C patients receive nearly 50% support for their medication costs, but the amount payable remains high, approximately 100 million VND per year. Therefore, the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases will continue negotiations with pharmaceutical companies to reduce drug prices and propose that health insurance increase coverage for patients' medication expenses.

Currently, hepatitis C patients are mainly treated at higher-level hospitals because lower-level facilities lack the capacity to test for viral load.

According to VOV