Reported by Liu Chia-Yun

The NHIA started reimbursing the new oral drugs for hepatitis C from January 2017.  So far, over 60,000 patients have received the new treatments with a cure rate of 97%.   Dr Lee Po-Chang, Director General of the NHIA, expressed that this year’s budget for the new oral drugs for hepatitis C is NT$6.536 billion, which is sufficient for treating 40,000 patients.  However, as of May, 29,000 patients have received the treatments.  The budget is estimated to be exhausted by the end of August.   The NHIA will appeal to the MOHW for more budget, hoping to increase the patient quota by 30,000.

The new treatments have been available under the NHI since January 24, 2017.  9,538 patients received the treatments in the first year of the reimbursement.  The number increased to 19,549 patients last year.  As of this year, until now, the treatments have reached 29,000 patients with a cure rate of 97%.

Dr Lee Po-Chang expressed that this year’s budget is NT$6.536 billion, which is sufficient for about 40,000 patients.  As the budget is estimated to be exhausted by the end of August, the NHIA is going to request the MOHW to allocate another NT$4 billion to the treatments so as to bring benefits to further 30,000 patients. 

The new treatments used to be only available for adult patients who had not been cured after 6 months of the diagnosis of the hepatitis C infection.

Dr Lee Po-Chang expressed that the reimbursement conditions have been relaxed since June with a view to completely eliminating hepatitis C in Taiwan.   Under the new reimbursement conditions, the new oral drugs are available for patients diagnosed with the hepatitis C infection.  Patients no longer have to wait for 6 months to be qualified for the new treatments.  The NHIA also listed a version of new drugs suitable for young adults aged between 12 and 18.  The NHIA’s target is to cure 324,000 hepatitis C patients by the end of 2025.

The data shows that the total population of patients with chronic hepatitis C is 405,000 in Taiwan.  The NHIA has set a target to cure 80% of the patients.

【2019-05-16 / United Daily News】