What personality type are you?

See no evil

Some people simply don’t see the problem. If you don’t see a problem with unaffordable medicines…

Speak no evil

Some people do see the problem but decide it must be somebody else’s problem*. If this is you…

Do no evil

A rare few see the problem and resolve to do something to about it. We call them fixers.

* In the Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the late Douglas Adams came up with the notion that the easiest way to hide something in plain sight was to use a Somebody Else’s Problem Field. The Somebody Else’s Problem field relies on people’s natural predisposition not to see anything they don’t want to, weren’t expecting or can’t explain.

Sometimes it’s much cheaper and easier to make people think that something works rather than actually make it work. Afterall, the results is, in all important aspects, the same.

For details about the problems here is a presentation given to the International Aids Society Meeting in Paris on 23rd July 2017

At FixHepC we have a simple philosophy

I don’t know how to save the world or, indeed, if the world wants to be saved.
I don’t have all the answers, but, like everyone, I do have some answers.
I have unanswerable questions but if we talk, maybe you can shed light on them.
I see the earth from space is small, and I am invisible on its surface, but I know the way
I choose to behave, and the problems I try to fix, contribute to the fabric of our planet.
I believe there is no big picture, it’s just an overview of what each one of us chooses to do.
I know I can’t save the world, but together we can make it better.

Are you a freethinker?

Leo Tolstoy - Freethinking

Thinking minds borrowed that quote from Leo Tolstoy.

Currently, Hepatitis C looks like this

Here is a 60-second video we did for World Hepatitis Day 2016 (with apologies to Dr Jonas Salk for the typo). When asked why he did not patent the polio vaccine he simply said “You cant patent the sun”.

Do you believe in the butterfly effect?

The butterfly effect is the concept that small causes can have large effects. Each and every one of us creates ripples.

The power of one

This slide was removed by consent from Dr Freeman’s 2017 presentation about generics to EASL in Amsterdam as it was felt to be too political, and not scientific enough. While we agree removing it from that forum was reasonable ask yourself this question: “Did the stance taken by Swissmedic and Concordia help or hinder Switzerland negotiating a deal with Merck for access to Zepatier? You would have to suspect it provided a useful bargaining tool to help rebalance normally one sided pricing negotiations and that without this pressure patients would still be waiting for treatment access. One doctor, working for his patients, has within 18 months helped get treatment to over half his country.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has” – Margaret Mead

The Power of one person to change the world

Here are the references:

Get Involved and let’s make the world better

Ripples are great, but what we need are waves. Medicines need to be more affordable. We can see with things like the EpiPen that medicines are becoming less affordable.

Big Pharma is the most profitable industry in the world. We, the citizen payers fund it but are not getting value for our hard earned tax and insurance dollars. Challenging the status quo will require a social movement on a scale not seen for decades, but there is a lot at stake.

If we simply sit back and do nothing what this means for you, and I, and our friends and family is that medical treatment is going to become increasingly out of reach, available only to a select few.

Perhaps you think that you can’t make a difference, but you can:

Maybe you are a patient and willing to share your story – stigma can only survive in silence
Maybe you are a doctor willing to help patients access care
Maybe you are a social media guru looking for a social conscience project
Maybe you speak 2 languages and could help make information available to people that don’t speak English
Maybe you are a lawyer interested in defending Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 which states:

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services.

Are you a Fixer?

There is a problem, we need to fix it, and we can all contribute something back.

If you want to become a fixer please email fixer@fixhepc.com.au and let’s work together to make the world a better place.

So that’s enough serious stuff. This will probably touch you…