Health

Consultant calls for elimination of Hep C in vulnerable patients

It can cost up to €90,000 for a full course of treatment but a leading professor says it is both ethical and cost effective to boost the number of people getting treated for the virus

Bernard West, a Hepatitis C peer worker (right) and Professor Jack Lambert, consultant in infectious diseases and genitourinary medicine at the Mater Hospital in Dublin. Picture: Fergal Phillips

A leading consultant has called on the state to commit to the elimination of Hepatitis C among vulnerable patients, rather than leaving them to die a “slow death” in hospital.

There are up to 30,000 people with Hepatitis C in the country, with drug addicts, homeless people and prisoners among those most at risk of contracting the blood-borne virus from infected needles.

Breakthrough Hepatitis C anti-viral drugs which can cure a person within eight to ...