All 32 Islanders who have been treated with new lifesaving hepatitis C drugs have tested negative for the virus at the end of treatment, says Health and Wellness Minister Doug Currie.
Since the new hepatitis C program was announced this spring, 60 Islanders with liver disease have begun treatment. Of these, 32 patients have completed the program and are testing negative for the virus; however they must be retested 12 weeks after finishing the treatment to ensure the virus hasn’t come back. The final test results in October are expected to be very good as the drug has a cure rate of at least 95 percent.
“Hepatitis C is a devastating disease that impacts many Islanders and experts say it is one of the most serious public health issues facing Canadians,” said Minister Currie. “These positive early results bode well for Island patients and our ability to significantly reduce the spread of this highly infectious disease in our province.”
More than 400 Islanders are known to have been infected with the hepatitis C (HCV) virus.
Patients are treated at hepatitis C clinics in Charlottetown and Summerside, most of whom are referred by family physicians and addiction service providers.
The new drug is a pill that patients take for a 12-week period while receiving education, treatment and support from a provincial care team.
The medication has few or no side effects and is well tolerated by patients. This is especially gratifying for the many patients who found previous treatments difficult and were unable to complete them.
Prince Edward Island is the first province to make the new drug widely available by adding it to its provincial formulary. The province announced in February 2015 that it would invest $1.6 million in the program for each of the next three years.
“We are very pleased to make this drug available and to move from treating hepatitis C to curing it,” said the minister. “It will save hundreds of lives while creating significant cost savings for the province in the short and long term.”
The province is working with the drug manufacturer, AbbVie to develop and test a patient-centered model of care that includes processes to initiate the screening and referral of patients from key access points throughout the province, including emergency rooms, addiction services, primary care centres, methadone clinics and corrections facilities.
“Through our partnership with AbbVie, we are able to go beyond individual treatment and reach out to Islanders who may be at risk of spreading the disease.”