Access to affordable Hepatitis C treatment in the Philippines is very difficult

Hepatitis C in the Philippines

For Filipinos I can supply Sofosbuvir 400 mg + Velpatasvir 100 mg (Epclusa) at the price 25,000 pesos for 12 weeks treatment. A cheaper, but very effective treatment for Hep C is Sofosbuvir 400 mg + Daclatasvir 60 mg, which is a pan-genotype treatment like Epclusa but only costs 15,000 pesos for 12 weeks treatment.

Because I have family connections with the Philippines I have developed a strong interest in the situation there for people with Hepatitis C.
The situation for Filipinos with Hepatitis C is dire. Even the cost of the versions of the new Hep C drugs is impossibly beyond the reach of almost all Filipinos.

Because of the low levels of wages in the Philippines I have developed a special program for Filipinos needing Hepatitis C treatment. That is I will supply a 12 weeks supply of Sofosbuvir 400 mg + Daclatasvir 60 mg for 17,000 peso including the cost of delivery. Any Filipino with Hepatitis C can email me and I will explain the simple process for getting Hepatitis C treatment sent to the Philippines.

Hepatitis C in the Philippines

The population of the Philippines is a little over 100 million people with about 20 million of those people living on or below the poverty line. More than one percent of the population of the Philippines has Hepatitis C. Based on research from Canada the infection rate of Hep C in the Philippines is very close to two percent. As with many other countries exact data is difficult to locate but we can assume that about two million people are infected with Hepatitis C in the Philippines. Of those two million about half a million are so poor that they struggle to find enough money to meet the basic needs of food and shelter whilst most of the remaining 1.5 million would be earning between US$200 and $400 per month with very little chance of saving any money from their wages.
This situation means that even the cost of the cheaper Indian medicines used for treating Hepatitis C is well beyond their reach.

Table 1: Comparison of Hepatitis C prevalence and population between four major Asian countries:

Country: Hepatitis C prevalence: Population living with hepatitis C (estimated)
China             2.2 %                            29.8 million
India               1.5 %                           18.2 million
Pakistan         5.9 %                          9.4 million
Philippines    2.2 %                          1.9 million

Source: Clinical Microbiology and Infection 2011

Hepatitis C and Health Care in the Philippines

The Philippines does not reimburse treatment for hepatitis C, and medical insurance companies do not allow reimbursement for these costs. In the Philippines, the cost of medicines is notably higher compared to other Asian countries and patients struggle to shoulder the cost of treatment. It is challenging for both urban and rural patients to afford the costly treatment for hepatitis C.
Philhealth, the Philippine government’s National Health Insurance Program has currently no outpatient package for the treatment and management of these diseases. Perhaps the Philippines will benefit from physician-driven programs like the free hepatitis C clinic.

Wages in the Philippines
Whilst the official “average” wage in the Philippines is about US,000 per month this average includes people on huge salaries.
To get a better idea on the reality of wages a cook in a restaurant with 5 to 10 years cooking experience earns about $2300 per month whilst a waiter or waitress in would earn about half that.

The basic wage in the Philippines is per day.

In general, one out of every five families were poor in 2012. The number of poor families in the Philippines was about 4.2 million families in 2012. Furthermore, one out of every ten families in the Philippines could not meet their basic food needs.
Conclusion
Filipino people who have Hepatitis C are caught in a very difficult situation. There is little or no hope of getting treatment through the public health system and at the same time low wages mean that even Hepa C treatment is out of reach of most people because of the cost. To help people in the Philippines I will supply 12 weeks treatment of Sofosbuvir 400 mg + Daclatasvir 60 mg for 15,000 peso, including delivery

For more information click here to EMAIL ME

Filipino Hepatitis C Support Group on Facebook Hepatitis C Pagamot sa Pilipinas

Ang grupong ito ay nabuo upang magbigay ng impormasyon tungkol sa paggamot ng Hepatitis C para sa mga tao sa Pilipinas. Magbibigay ito ng impormasyon tungkol sa mga opsyon sa paggamot ng Hepatitis C at mga gastos sa paggamot. Ang grupo ay magkakaloob din ng isang suportadong komunidad para sa mga taong may Hepatitis C at sa pamamagitan ng proseso ng paggamot sa Hepatitis C. Bukas ito sa lahat ng mga taong may Hepatitis C na naghahanap ng impormasyon at suporta sa online na komunidad.
Ang Hepatitis C ay kumakalat sa pamamagitan ng pakikipag-ugnayan sa dugo-sa-dugo. Ayon sa World Health Organization, ang rate ng prevalence para sa hepatitis C sa Pilipinas ay tinatayang 3.6 porsyento, kumpara sa 0.8 porsyento sa Canada.
Nangangahulugan ito na hindi bababa sa isa sa bawat 40 Pilipino ang may Hepatitis C bagaman marami ang hindi nakakaalam nito.