Hepatitis-C clinic - Cambodia - April 2017

In 2016, MSF set up a treatment clinic for patients with hepatitis C in Preah Kossamak Hospital in Phnom Penh. By April 2017 over 10,000 patients had been screened since the start of the programme, of whom 4,000 patients had been diagnosed with hepatitis C infection. Around 800 patients have, as a result, been put on treatment since October 2016. MSF is treating patients with the improved hepatitis C medicines called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) that have recently been introduced. These medicines are far more effective than previous hepatitis C drugs; they carry far fewer side-effects for patients and the treatment lasts around 12 weeks compared with the previous treatment of 24 to 48 weeks with painful weekly injections. However the high price of the medicines is a barrier to treatment access. Diagnostic costs too present a challenge for treatment providers.

MSFSTO14499

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