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 direct-acting antivirals (DAAs).

However, only hospitals approved to participate in the highly specialised drugs program can access PBS funding for these drugs, which cost tens of thousands of dollars per patient.