Thousands Of Hepatitis C Tablets Lying Unused In Public Hospitals

Mumbai: Exactly two years after a national programme to combat viral hepatitis was announced by the union health ministry, the state has managed to enrol just 300 patients. The pandemic and the ensuing lockdown have worsened the situation. The programme was stalled as patients could not access thousands of Hepatitis C tablets lying with public hospitals. An estimated 2-3% of Maharashtra’s 11 crore population is feared to be infected with Hepatitis B and 0.5-1% with Hepatitis C.

- Sumitra DebRoy

Mumbai’s KEM Hospital was the only centre in the state that could enrol 10 patients during the past four months and dispense the drugs to four. Barring the city, almost all centres across the state screening for Hepatitis C and dispensing the medicines either turned away patients or couldn’t function as the staffers were pulled into Covid work, alleged activists. Worse, the handful of Hepatitis C patients who were started on the course in March had to stop treatment midway as they couldn’t get the remaining dose. A source told TOI the state is likely to have given preliminary estimation of 13,000 patients last year. The state received the first batch of Hepatitis C medicines from the Centre in October 2019.