Hello Everybody,

this morning I run a simple Google search for “Hepatita C” (hepatitis C) and I got back a lot of results, in my native language. I wanted to get the latest news about Hep C, so I selected the option that I want to see the results from the past month.

What I got as results really surprised me … in an unpleasant way … The first 4 screens of Google results were containing (over 90%) links with titles of articles about how to get tested for Hep C and none for how to get treated for Hep C.

I accessed some of the links and what I got as information was that Hep C is caused by a virus, a deadly one and that I could get tested fast to see if I got it. Some were also providing some information about how to prevent getting Hep C… But I barely could find a hint about how to get treated.

This raises a very serious question: if you are “advised” to get treated for a serious & deadly disease, but for which you do not find information about how to treat it, would you get yourself tested?

Furthermore, at least this is valid in my country, if you would have a deadly disease and you see that top managers from the healthcare system are being investigated for fraudulent misuse of funds and if your doctor tells you that the treatment is being rationalized (only the sickest ones get it), would you think that in order to get treated you might need perhaps to bribe someone? In such a context, would you be willing to get tested and see if you have Hep C?

Well, in such a context I would be tempted to say that if it does not hurt (and in many cases, Hep C does not hurt), maybe I do not have Hep C so why should I get tested…. ?

The following text is for the “intelligent” people involved in national campaigns for Hep C:
You fail miserably in raising the awareness and motivating people to get tested simply because you do not talk about treatment options FOR ALL PATIENTS! Use the example of New Zealand who advised people to get the path of generics in case they cannot access the subsidized treatment.

And stop this madness about claiming that generic drugs might not be safe simply because there is no clinical study for HCV generics available in the country. Generic HCV medication work. It is not only me saying this, look what is happening all over the world: PEOPLE DO GET TREATED WITH GENERICS. MILLIONS!

People want solutions to their problems, not just knowing that they might have a problem, an almost unsolvable one within the current healthcare system.

RHF