“How is it possible that 100,000 people do not have access to new life-saving drugs? May the Government guarantee new funds to the regions and ensure a future for everyone!"
The Associations AITF, ANED, ARRAN, EPAC, LILA, NADIR, PLUS, and the Federations FEDEMO, LIVER POOL, THALASSEMIA, forum TRAPIANTATI, challenge the new paradigm "we only treat serious patients" which risks dismantling healthcare universalism.
To the AC of the Prime Minister Matthew Renzi
Object: urgent interventions to provide life-saving hepatitis C treatment for more than 100,000 patients
Dear President of the Council
On behalf of thousands of Hepatitis C patients, we hereby express our deep concern at the plight of at least 100,000 patients whoI still can't access the powerful new life-saving drugs treating hepatitis C in 95-100% of cases.
The first of the innovative drugs in question was authorized in December 2014, but made reimbursable only and exclusively for patients with serious or very serious illness, through access restrictions decided by the Medicines Agency.
These limitations were elaborated on the basis of an alleged "devastating" economic impact, calculated on the average cost per therapy, but above all on a still undefined number of patients to be treated.
The mere fact that no public institution has taken steps to accurately estimate the number of patients with hepatitis C to be treated represents a first surprisingly negative fact and which prevents the elaboration of any estimate of the investment necessary in the short and medium term to guarantee treatment for all the patients.
The EpaC onlus association has tried to provide for such a lack, which, through the collection of exemptions for pathologies from all Italian regions, has attempted to estimate the total number of patients diagnosed and eligible for antiviral treatment, in about 160/ 180,000.
If our estimates are true, and by virtue of imminent drug price renegotiations with pharmaceutical companies, a sustainable multi-year intervention plan to guarantee treatment for everyone, immediately, is absolutely feasible.
We want to underline that other countries in the world have already decided not to limit access to treatment for hepatitis C, such as Australia, Portugal, Holland, Croatia and other countries.
Access restrictions are generating a series of incredible distortions and anomalies that we have been witnessing for several months.
Let's talk about the phenomenon of pharmaceutical tourism, or Italian citizens who travel to pharmacies in countries such as India, Morocco, Egypt For buy the generic formula of such drugs out of pocket, available for a few thousand euros and just as effective.
In fact, as far as we are concerned we are in the presence of the end of healthcare universalism, heralded by many, since the state is no longer able to guarantee the necessary pharmaceutical assistance to an army of patients.
And yet, Mr. Prime Minister,
We are told that to cure ourselves we must wait for the disease to worsen, despite the scientific literature and every elementary assumption on prevention, clearly states that transmissible infectious diseases and chronic degenerative diseases must be stopped and treated as soon as possible;
but, above all, we are told that there are not the resources to cure everyone.
However, no one knows how many of these “all” are.
We want and demand that this madness cease.
We, representing thousands of patients suffering from hepatitis C, ask you for immediate action to guarantee care for all patients through a reasonable multi-year allocation and which allows the Medicines Agency to immediately lift the access restrictions still in force.
Download the Letter to Prime Minister Matteo Renzi [PDF: 543Kb]
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