High drug prices, pharma monopoly killing Hepatitis sufferers in Nagaland

KOHIMA, JUL 28 : High cases of the deadly Hepatitis C virus have been reported in Nagaland but the state does not have even a testing and diagnosis facility. As if the matter weren’t already enough, people cannot access treatment drugs too although they are available, due to exorbitant prices and monopoly exercised by pharmaceuticals.

Interestingly while Nagaland does not have even a diagnosis center, free diagnosis and medicines are being provided to people in the neighboring states of Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram.

And health institutions aren’t helping either: even private hospitals exploit the people by charging exorbitant rates just for an antibody test, local nongovernmental organizations working in the field told a recent program in Kohima town.
Said issues are some of the problems being faced by Hepatitis C sufferers even as the world observes World Hepatitis Day.

With the theme ‘elimination,’ World Hepatitis Day was observed in Kohima town with a formal program that was organized by local health groups in the capital on Thursday.

The organizers of the event were nongovernmental groups namely the HepCoN, the NUN, the Kripa Foundation, the Network of Naga People Living with HIV/AIDS (NNP+) and the semi-government agency, the Nagaland State AIDS Control Society.

The event was conducted at the LCS building.

Similar anti-Hepatitis programs were being held in other parts of Nagaland on July 28, such as in Wokha, Mokokchung, and Phek, Kiphire, Mon, Satakha and Tuensang district.

During screening conducted between May and June of 2016 in the state, it was found that the prevalence of hepatitis C positive (or HCV) stood at 2.43% comprising 3.90% among the male population and 0.52% among the female population.

Giving a brief note on the Mylan CSR Project on HCV, health activist Mhonthung Tungoe said that the two-year project was being implemented by the NNP+ and had been undertaken in Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. The drive is especially so for the rural areas. It aims at increasing ‘awareness’ and diagnosis of Hepatitis C. Their key activities include advocacies, counseling, first-level HCV screening (card tests), mobile HCV screening in the remote areas; referral and linkages; information education and communication.

Also, offering an overview of HCV in Nagaland, Ketho, secretary of nongovernmental organization HepCoN, said that a high number of HCV cases had being reported. Nagaland does not have any testing and diagnosis facility though, he lamented.

In spite of treatment drugs having been made available, Ketho said that the people have not been able to access them due to exorbitant prices and monopoly by pharmaceutical companies. He also alleged that sometimes private hospitals exploit the people by charging exorbitant rates just for an antibody test.

Further, the NGO worker said, free diagnosis and medicines are being provided to people in the neighboring states of Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram. Although there had been many new developments in the world of science and medicine in regard to treatment of the hepatitis virus, Ketho lamented, the people continue to die of a preventable and curable disease because of the lack of information and because of high treatment costs.

In this regard, a number of recommendations have been placed before the government of Nagaland to address the burden of Hepatitis C in the state: initiating a state surveillance system through the Health departments or the IDSP.

Another recommendation has asked the government to ensure availability of Hepatitis diagnostic facilities besides treatment drugs in all public health facilities. This is to regulate Hepatitis C treatment prices and also to give importance to information, education and communication services about Hepatitis.

The government is also requested to take the lead role in organizing World Hepatitis Day events which is observed on July 28 every year as a global event, and to introduce government health schemes for the treatment of HCV.

The HepCoN has also requested the public to contact the organization to avail free diagnosis facilities and treatment, currently being offered in collaboration with a pharmaceutical company.

World Hepatitis Day, observed on July 28 every year, aims to raise global awareness of hepatitis—a group of infectious diseases known as Hepatitis A, B, C, D, and E—and encourage prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Hepatitis affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide, causing acute and chronic disease and reportedly killing close to 1.4 million people every year.

World Hepatitis Day is one of eight official global public health campaigns marked by the World Health Organization (WHO), along with World Health Day, World Blood Donor Day, World Immunization Week, World Tuberculosis Day, World No Tobacco Day, World Malaria Day and World AIDS Day.