Diagnostic tests for Hepatitis C elimination programme made free
Residents of seven Georgian regions are provided with free Hepatitis C, HIV and Tuberculosis tests. Photo: President's Twitter page
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The diagnostic tests, which are necessary to enroll in Georgia's Hepatitis C elimination programme, will be available for free.
Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze recently said that the diagnostic tests cost about 140–360 GEL.
PM Bakhtadze said the government made "an important change" in the programme and, therefore, citizens will no longer have to pay to be diagnosed.
We have the chance to become a country to eliminate Hepatitis C", Mamuka Bakhtadze stated.
Free Hepatitis C, HIV and Tuberculosis tests are available in seven regions of Georgia: Adjara, Kakheti, Imereti, Guria, Racha-Lechkhum-Kvemo Svaneti and Mtskheta-Mtianeti.
Signing a memorandum with Gilead, the company that produces medicines for Hepatitis C, Sofosbuvir and Harvoni, Georgia has made the virus treatment free for all citizens enrolled in the programme. Photo by the Ministry of Health press office
In partnership with the American company Gilead, Georgia launched the large-scale Hepatitis C Elimination Program in 2015. The programme aims to make Georgia a Hepatitis C-free country by 2020.
Approximately 125,000 people have undergone treatment as part of the Hepatitis C elimination programme. The latest recovery rate is 98,2 %.
Earlier in April, the Ministry of Health of Georgia was awarded a certificate of an exemplary country combating Hepatitis C by the European Association for the Study of the Liver and International Liver Foundation in Austria.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has stated that he is sure that Georgia will be become one of the first states worldwide which will manage to completely eradicate Hepatitis C.
Residents of seven Georgian regions will be provided with free Hepatitis C, HIV and Tuberculosis tests starting today. Deputy Health Minister Tamar Gabunia said today that the project was first initiated in Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and the other six regions were added this year.
The Ministry of Health of Georgia has been awarded a certificate of an exemplary country combating Hepatitis C by the European Association for the Study of the Liver and International Liver Foundation in Austria.
Those living in Georgia’s occupied regions but do not hold a Georgian passport will be able to benefit from the free Hepatitis C treatment program Georgia offers its citizens.
Passengers travelling from China to Georgia are being examined for a new strain of the coronavirus that originates in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Georgian doctors are examining passengers as well as providing them with information on the symptoms of the virus upon arrival.
Georgia’s progress in eliminating hepatitis C was in focus of health minister Zurab Azarashvili’s address to an event at the United Nations general assembly on Tuesday, the Georgian health ministry said.
The World Health Organisation has unveiled its Collaborating Centre on Viral Hepatitis Elimination at Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control, with the move enabling the country to develop laboratory capacity and share its success in eliminating the disease , the Georgian Health Ministry announced on Tuesday.