During Tuesday’s scientific conference in the Sejm, patient organizations called for the implementation of the HCV prevention and control program. The data of the National Institute of Public Health-PZH show that in Poland up to 84 percent. HCV infections occur in health care facilities.
Hepatitis C is an infectious disease caused by the HCV virus. In most patients, hepatitis C remains undiagnosed for a long time and, if left untreated, leads to very serious complications, including cirrhosis, liver failure and liver cancer.
There are 130-170 million people infected with hepatitis C worldwide, of which almost 18 million are Europeans. In Poland, about 1% of hepatitis C is infected. population.
Every fifth person fights HCV infection on his own, while in the remaining patients the infection is chronic. Prof. During the conference, Waldemar Halota, president of the Polish Group of HCV Experts, emphasized that every fifth patient with chronic HCV infection is at risk of cirrhosis and liver cancer.
According to the data of the National Institute of Public Health – National Institute of Hygiene in Poland, up to 84 percent. infections occur in health care facilities. Other cases include cosmetic procedures, tattoos, and drug use.
Prof. Rafał Gierczyński, acting Director of NIZP-PZH, drew attention to the problem of non-compliance with procedures related to, inter alia, with sterilization. There is no awareness that even one mistake in this process can infect other people – he emphasized.
HCV infections in Poland are detected to a small extent, most often by accident, e.g. during tests carried out among blood donors, pregnant women or during a stay in a hospital.
HCV is one of the few chronic diseases that can be permanently cured with drugs, said Prof. Anna Piekarska head of the Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology at the Medical University. She also emphasized that now it is possible not only to stop the disease process in the liver, but even to reverse it.
The condition for the effectiveness of treatment, as Prof. Piekarska, doctors have access to various modern methods of HCV therapy, including because not all patients can take medicines that contain interferon.
President of the Polish Society of Epidemiologists and Doctors of Infectious Diseases, prof. Małgorzata Pawłowska pointed out that when estimating the costs of hepatitis C, one should bear in mind both the expenses for treatment (over PLN 200 million) and indirect costs (e.g. related to absenteeism from work or the costs of disability pensions), which were estimated at approx. PLN 585 million in total. .
Treatment of hepatitis C is burdensome, during therapy the patient is very weakened, and sometimes the disease leads to depression. Barbara Pepke, the president of the Star of Hope Foundation, pointed out that the effectiveness of therapy in Poland ranges from 40 to 70 percent, and that after unsuccessful therapies, there are approx. patients.
The Hepatology Coalition associating patient organizations has for many years indicated the need to implement the national program for the prevention and control of HCV. As Pepke said, it is also urgent to include anti-HCV screening in the guaranteed benefits package. The coalition appeals, inter alia, to o creating a strategy for optimizing the care of patients infected with HCV, with an emphasis on improving access to diagnosis and innovative therapies.
Łukasz Pera from the Department of Drug Policy and Pharmacy of the Ministry of Health assured that the Ministry of Health is working on financing interferon-free therapies from public funds. This type of therapy, as estimated by MZ, will increase the annual costs of treating patients infected with HCV to about PLN 300 million. The reimbursement decision is likely to be made this fall.
On Tuesday, the Sejm held the Epidemiology, Diagnosis and HCV Therapy conference organized by the Permanent Public Health Subcommittee on the initiative of the Hepatology Coalition. The event was held under the honorary patronage of the Marshal of the Sejm, Radosław Sikorski.