“Thats like the disclaimer at the end of any public statement by the TGA or Hep not for profits here in Oz as well. It is however understandable in that if we end up with some people reporting getting ripped off buying generics on line it will hurt the credibility of genuine suppliers. ”

The best excuses and rationalizations are always the ones that are understandable. They have appeal, particularly when they appeal to the real and justified fears that people have. This type of excuse cannot simply be dismissed, which is why this one has proved so effective in deterring people from buying the generics.

But don’t be fooled. It is still propaganda intent on controlling the supply of generic drugs to the people who need them. It didn’t stop the good Doc here. He’s testing all the meds that pass through fixhepC. Problem solved. That’s how you can tell those with genuine motivation to cure hepC from those who only want to scaremonger. The sooner the NHS gets at least one test centre set up in the UK with mail order access, the sooner we might be inclined to trust anything that they say.

dt

Hi Joy,

In principle I agree. And proposals are certainly needed in order for sustainable deals to be made which work for everybody.
For this plan I make the following comments:
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What if the manufacturer decides not to tier their pricing? Tiered pricing only works for them if they can price gouge first world countries. So there’s a problem with how to set the market price that the PBS will pay. Not an insurmountable problem though.
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I love the concept of a Super Pharma profits tax however – The way things stand at the moment, Gilead could simply refuse to sell to the PBS and carry on with price gouging in more compliant countries. What is needed, and has been needed from the start, is for ALL countries to get together and form a united front. Either Gilead makes a deal that suits everybody or there is no deal on offer = the Gilead drug is blacklisted by the international community.
This of course raises the moral dilemma of people dying while deals are not getting made. Do you play hardball now in order to obtain better pricing for the many later, or do you deal now to save the lives of the critical cases and accept rationing later for the many? I’m glad I don’t have to sit in the seat that makes that decision.
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I can’t comment on New Zealand’s methodology except to say that if it is working for them then it sounds like it’s a viable solution. I just wonder how it works when there is only one breakthrough drug on offer with no competitors.

dt

“What do they all talk about behind closed doors at those world HepC conferences?”

Since asking myself this question, I became intrigued about it, and so I had a look on the internet to see what I could find out. My finding is that the WHO and like bodies are not talking about hepC eradication, they are talking about hepC MANAGEMENT.
In this talk, the price and low availability of treatment is mentioned but no solutions are offered.
http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs164/en/
Conclusion: We are not going towards hepC eradication any time soon with the WHO at the helm.

I then took a look at the eradication programs for another 2 of the world’s deadliest viral diseases, ie. smallpox and polio.
In those cases it was / is being achieved by large scale, far reaching, vaccination programs. Characteristics of the vaccine required were that it must be very cheap, effective, and preferably oral only so that it can be administered by non-medical volunteers. For hepC, we could widen the solution to any vaccine or cure that does the job cheaply, effectively and with very few doses (eg. 1 – 3).

Well, as you know, we don’t have anything like this right now, although there are some hopefuls in development. So for worldwide eradication of hepC, these hopefuls that fit the criteria above are what we need to support and promote. ‘Successful’ is in the hands of the scientists. ‘Cheap’ – well who’s hands will that be in? What if the company that is successful in coming up with this treatment sells out to Gilead? It’s unthinkable – right? Or is it? What’s to stop that happening? Well, right now, NOTHING!

So here’s the deal. We have to be vigilant this time round. There are humanitarian groups in the world that would hopefully use a hepC vaccine to eradicate hepC from the world. We need to ensure that this medicine gets from the developers into the hands of these groups in such a way that the developers are fairly compensated and at the same time mass inoculation is still affordable. I would hope that that is doable, provided that the Big Greedy Pigs are prevented from ripping hundreds of millions of dollars off the top. That cannot be allowed to happen this time.

Here is a list of some of the big players involved in the polio eradication. I do not vouch for any of them because I don’t know enough about them, but some might be helpful for the task at hand:
National governments, WHO, Rotary International, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), UNICEF, supported by key partners including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Underpinning the effort is a global network of more than 20 million volunteers worldwide who have collectively immunized nearly 3 billion children over the past 20 years (for polio).

So I am watching drug developments closely. I hope a lot of people are watching and will shout loudly about it if they see the progress of this medicine moving in the wrong direction. The Gilead debacle might be seen by some as a fait accompli. Let’s face it, there were many who were asleep at the wheel who let it happen. Next time round nobody can use this as an excuse.

dt