3400 New Zealanders Treated In First Year Of New Hepatitis C Treatment
The rapid
uptake of life-saving new hepatitis C medicine Maviret since
it was funded by PHARMAC a year ago means the elimination of
the deadly disease from this country is a realistic goal,
Health Minister David Clark says. Hepatitis C is a
blood-borne virus which attacks the liver, proving fatal for
about 200 New Zealanders each year. PHARMAC has been funding
Maviret – a treatment with a 98 per cent cure rate - since
February last year. “I’m delighted we’re off to
a flying start toward our goal of eliminating this disease
from New Zealand with almost 3400 people treated with
Maviret in the first year alone,” David Clark
said. “Maviret has real potential to cure almost all
of the 40,000 New Zealanders now thought to have the
disease, hundreds of whom would otherwise go on to develop
cirrhosis, liver cancer and require liver
transplants.” Maviret was developed with significant
input from Auckland University and Auckland City Hospital
liver specialist Professor Ed Gane. ”We know that
that a lot of people have been diagnosed but have not yet
accessed treatment,” says Professor Gane. “We also
think about half of those people who have the disease have
never been tested at all and therefore those people need to
be aware that they could have hepatitis C, and that
there’s universal cure which is simple – eight weeks of
tablets once a day and you’re cured. That will have a huge
impact.” David Clark says Professor Gane deserves
huge credit for his work over many years treating New
Zealanders with hepatitis C and his research towards the
development of Maviret. “This is a fantastic example
of kiwis healing kiwis with the backing of PHARMAC and the
Government. I’m incredibly proud of what Professor Gane
and our health services have achieved to date with this
treatment and I’m sure they will continue to build on this
work. “For the sake of your long term health and the
wellbeing of your family, if you think there’s even a tiny
chance you may have contracted hepatitis C, get tested so
you can access Maviret if you need it and get cured, David
Clark said. Aucklander Stephen Hassan is among those
who did exactly that, and is now free of the
disease. “I had no symptoms and certainly wasn’t
expecting to have hepatitis C,” says Stephen. “I
was one of the lucky ones, discovering it before it did too
much damage and as it turns out, I was the first patient to
access funded Maviret twelve months ago. Following an eight
week treatment programme taken at home, I’m now hepatitis
C free, and so grateful for that. “It’s not a hard
thing to do and if you’ve ever been at risk definitely
take that step and find out for your own peace of mind
because the treatment we have now is a real blessing,”
Stephen Hassan says. David Clark says the early
success of Maviret in curing New Zealanders like Stephen
demonstrates the strength of the PHARMAC
model. “Maviret is not a cheap medicine, but its
availability shows that where the benefits of new treatments
are clear and substantial, PHARMAC moves quickly to make
them available to New Zealanders. PHARMAC chief
executive Sarah Fitt is thrilled to know how much life has
changed for those who have taken
Maviret. “Everything we do at PHARMAC is about
getting the best health outcomes for all New Zealanders from
the medicines we fund. I am immensely proud that PHARMAC has
been able to fund what is essentially a cure for a serious
illness like hepatitis
C.” Hepatitis C is highly
contagious and is spread through infected blood. It can be
contracted in a number of ways: through piercings or tattoos
with contaminated equipment or ink, if you had a blood
transfusion in New Zealand before 1992, or if you've shared
needles for injecting drugs – even
once.Hon Dr David
Clark
Minister of Health
14 February
2020 PĀNUI PĀPĀHO
MEDIA
STATEMENT
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