Subsidised hep C drugs should be initiated in hospital: hepatologists
A Melbourne program has shown success in treating hard-to-reach patients
17th September 2019
Hepatologists are calling for an exemption to PBS rules that would allow initiation of subsidised direct-acting antiviral drugs for hospital in-patients outside of the highly specialised drugs program.
While Australia is on track to meet its hepatitis C elimination targets, patients who inject drugs remain a difficult-to-reach cohort, say staff at St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne.
They claim to have found success with a pilot program of searching for in-patients with risk factors for hepatitis C and initiating treatment with