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S.U.C.C.E.S.S. Seeks More Affordable Treatment Options for Hepatitis B Patients
(July 23rd - Vancouver, BC) - Today, S.U.C.C.E.S.S. called on the British Columbia Minister of Health to provide access to more treatment options for patients with chronic hepatitis B. Currently only two products are covered by BC Pharmacare, while there are six pharmaceutical options available, making the majority inaccessible for low-income patients.
"We are concerned because so many people in our community are impacted by hepatitis B," said Tung Chan, CEO of S.U.C.C.E.S.S.. "We are looking to the Health Minister to make more treatment options available to all British Columbians to improve the quality of their lives and reduce the pressure on the health care system."
Effective treatment is available for hepatitis B and these therapies needs to be made available to prevent complications of the disease. Access to these new medications can help these patients deal with this serious disease and reduce pressure on the health care system.
On April 2, 2007 S.U.C.C.E.S.S. and a number of gastroenterology specialists met with the Minister of Health regarding providing more access for hepatitis B patients. The Minister responded to the issues raised in that meeting recently by letter. S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is today calling on the Minister for a commitment on three key points
- Continued discussions with Gilead Sciences Inc., the manufacturer of Hepsera (adefovir dipivoxil), to ensure that every effort is made to find a long term solution. While Gilead is providing access to patients currently receiving this product through their Patient Access Program until provincial funding is made available, this access will not continue indefinitely and it may be terminated at any time.
- An expedited completion of the review of Pegasys (peginterferon alfa-2a), which has been under review by the BC Pharmacare program for almost 20 months, to allow patients to access this important new medication.
- An expedited review process for Baraclude (entecavir) and Sebivo (telbivudine) once the federal Common Drug Review has forwarded the results of its review to the Province of BC.
About S.U.C.C.E.S.S.: (http://www.success.bc.ca/)
S.U.C.C.E.S.S. is one of the largest services organizations to new Canadians in the Lower Mainland. It was established 33 years ago and currently operates in 12 locations providing settlement, employment, business and economic development services to over 230,000 client services annually.
Media contact information:
Tung Chan, CEO:
Tel: 604-408-7272
Cell: 604-760-6912
Email:
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Hepatitis B - The Disease and Treatment Options in BC
Background
Hepatitis B - The Disease and Its Costs
- Hepatitis B is a blood-borne virus that attacks the liver and is one of the world's most common infectious diseases. If left untreated, it can cause severe scarring of the liver (cirrhosis), liver failure and liver cancer. Present in the blood, saliva, sweat, tears, breast milk and semen of infected individuals, hepatitis B is transmitted through contact with infected bodily fluids.
- Hepatitis B is a major public health and medical problem in Canada with estimates of 250,000 to 500,000 people chronically infected. In British Columbia alone it is estimated that there are 40,000 to 60,000 individuals that suffer from chronic hepatitis B infection. If hepatitis B is left untreated, approximately 30 % of these cases will result in a premature and preventable death from hepatitis B cirrhosis and/or liver (hepatocellular) cancer. Effective treatment is available for hepatitis B and these therapies need to be made available to prevent complications of the disease.
- The cost of managing hepatitis is continuing to rise and is placing a significant strain on BC's health system. The cost of managing end-stage liver disease is estimated at $500,000 to $1 million per patient.
Hepatitis B - Treatment Options:
- Currently there are two treatment options covered by PharmaCare for BC patients: Intron A (Interferon-Alpha) and Heptovir (Lamivudine). These two therapies provided by PharmaCare are over a decade old and BC patients deserve access to the newer, better medicines.
- The use of Intron A (Interferon-Alpha) has proved limited as a result of the numerous side effects of this therapy.
- Heptovir (Lamivudine) is covered by PharmaCare for only 52 weeks of treatment. This is problematic because patients require long-term therapy to suppress the virus to undetectable levels. The inability to provide long-term treatment allows life-threatening progression of liver disease. The other challenge with Heptovir (Lamivudine) is that up to 60 to 70% of patients develop resistance to the drug after four years. The development of resistance to Lamivudine also increases the likelihood of resistance to other antiviral agents and may compromise the response to other drugs.
- There are four additional medications being reviewed by PharmaCare:
- Pegasys (Pegylated Interferon) - It is available to patients in BC with hepatitis C, but has been under review by the BC PharmaCare program for the past 20 months for patients with hepatitis B. Pegasys is administered by injection once a week and is preferable to daily or three times weekly injections of Intron A (Interferon-Alpha).
- Hepsera (Adefovir Dipivoxil) - An antiviral oral pill, not highly potent but is highly effective in the patient that develops resistance to Lamivudine.
- Baraclude (Entecavir) - Highly potent antiviral oral pill that suppresses viral replication. It has been shown to suppress viral replication more effectively than Lamivuidine in patients that have never been treated.
- Sebivo (Telbivudine) - An antiviral oral pill that suppresses hepatitis B viral replication. Inadquate suppression of the virus results in development of resistance. Telbivudine is more potent than Lamivudine.
- The treatment of hepatitis B now has entered a new era as there are multiple effective medications available, and clinical studies are ongoing worldwide for exciting new agents. Patients should have access to these medications as determined by their needs. This is reflected by the recent Canadian Association for the Study of the Liver Disease Management of chronic hepatitis B Consensus Guidelines, which state that all drugs should be available to Canadian patients in need.
 Hepatitis B Release
Hepatitis B Background
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