The members of UCAB Board Dmytro Sherembey and Bogdan Zaika participated in a meeting that took place in Tbilisi and was devoted to issues of access to Hepatitis C treatment. The meeting participants decided that an advocacy campaign was needed, aimed at improving access to Hepatitis C treatment. The first step of the campaign is a request to reduce prices for pegylated interferons signed by 22 NGOs:
The appeal to pegylated interferons producers:
«The main obstacle to access to treatment for 7 million people living with this Hepatitis C in Eastern Europe and Central Asia is the unacceptable and unfair pricing policy of the pharmaceutical companies. The treatment of Hepatitis C costs $15 000 in the region, which in its own right deprives people of obtaining it and thus staying alive.
We, the members of the Eastern European and Central Asian Community Advisory Board, call upon all manufacturers of pegylated interferons to reduce now the cost of a Hepatitis C treatment course to $2000 in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, so that people can survive».
