98% of people in Hepatitis C elimination program cured
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Around 45,000 people have gone through medical treatment for Hepatitis C in Georgia, 98 percent of which were cured, the head of Georgia’s National Center for Disease Control and Public Health (NCDC) Amiran Gamkrelidze said.
Gamkrelidze encouraged everyone to be tested for Hepatitis C in order to understand whether they have the illness or not as the disease has no symptoms until late in its development.
We should screen the entire population – 3,7 million people, especially adults above 18”, Gamkrelidze said.
He said 1,800,000 people will be screened in the next three years, which is a unique chance to cure Hepatitis C as both the test and treatment are free of charge.
Signing a memorandum with Gilead, the company that produces Sofosbuvir and Harvoni, medicines for Hepatitis C, Georgia has made the virus treatment free for all citizens in the program. Photo by the Ministry of Health press office.
Georgia’s Health Ministry launched a campaign titled Cure Yourself in order to encourage people to be tested for Hepatitis C last year.
Through the campaign #áááááá£á áá (Geo. ganikurne, cure yourself) people can apply for screening in order to understand whether they have the illness or not, as the treatment of Hepatitis C is free of charge in Georgia.
Typically the treatment costs €110,000 per person, which is unaffordable for the majority of Georgians.
In partnership with the American company Gilead, Georgia launched a large-scale Hepatitis C Elimination Program in 2015. The program aims to make Georgia a Hepatitis C-free country by 2020.
Georgia’s Health Ministry has launched a new campaigned titled Cure Yourself in order to encourage the people to be tested on Hepatitis C, as the disease has no symptoms until too late.
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.
US Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly said his country will continue supporting Georgia with its Hepatitis C elimination program.
Georgia’s Minister of Health, Labour and Social Affairs Davit Sergeenko says the treatment of Hepatitis C will continue in Georgia until the virus has been eliminated from the country and all sufferers are cured.
According to three years results of the Hepatitis C elimination programme, 50,000 people are involved in the process currently and treatment rate is 98,2 percent.
The programme to eliminate Hepatitis C is expanding in Georgia. In addition to medical institutions, screening will now also available at Public Service Halls.
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.
Georgian Health Minister David Sergeenko says there is a risk the country’s Hepatitis C elimination programme may come to an end.
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.
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.
Gilead, the US company providing free Hepatitis C medicines to Georgia since 2015, has stated that the expiration of Hepatitis C medicine worth 560,645,083 GEL ($194 million USD) is not ‘unusual.’
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.