Appel de Washington pour l’accès aux diagnostics, aux traitements et à la prise en charge de l’hépatite C

Washington Call for access to HCV diagnostics, treatment and care for all !

Over the last decade, HIV drug prices have dropped dramatically, and access to antiretroviral therapy has significantly increased. It is time to apply the lessons from HIV/AIDS to hepatitis C virus (HCV). An estimated 170 million people have chronic hepatitis C. At least 350,000 of them die from it each year although it is curable. Access to prevention tools, diagnostics, and treatment remains extremely limited, particularly for people who inject drugs, a group disproportionately affected by HCV. Few people in the Global South have access, even those living with HIV/AIDS.

Therefore, on the occasion of the XIX International Aids Conference in Washington, DC, USA, and the eve of World Hepatitis Day, the undersigned grassroots civil society groups and non-governmental organizations have formed an international coalition working towards universal access to HCV voluntary testing and treatment.

We call upon :

• The pharmaceutical companies - particularly Roche & Merck - to drastically reduce the price of diagnostics and treatment regimens for the estimated 170 million individuals suffering from chronic hepatitis C, particularly those with HIV co-infection.

• Political leaders to mobilize the adequate resources needed now and in the future—in anticipation of new HCV drugs--- to diagnose, monitor and treat high-prevalence populations, such as people living with HIV/AIDS and people who inject drugs

• The World Health Organization (WHO) and other relevant United Nations (UN) agencies to develop treatment guidelines for HCV treatment for HIV/HCV co-infected people and HCV mono-infected persons in low and middle income countries and to develop a prequalification process for bio-similars that facilitates access to pegylated interferon

• Researchers to gather and provide evidence on feasibility and effectiveness of treatment in low and middle income countries, with a focus on disproportionately affected populations, particularly people who inject drugs.

• International donors to support community mobilization and treatment preparedness and literacy, as well as treatment cost, which are crucial for access to treatment.

Treatment saves life

Access for all !

Signatories :
Act Up-Basel, Switzerland • Act Up-Paris, France • Afghan Drug Users Group, Afghanistan • African Services Committee, USA • AIDES, France • AIDS Foundation of Chicago, USA • Andrey Rylkov Foundation for Health and Social Justice -Moscow, Russia • Asia Pacific Network of Positive People (APN+) • Association de lutte contre le sida (ALCS), Morocco • ASUD, France • Coalicion Internacional de Activistas en Tratamiento (CIAT) • Coalition Internationale PLUS • Delhi Network of People Living with HIV (DNP+), India • E.V.A. – Russia • Empower India • European AIDS Treatment Group - Eatg • Georgian Harm Reduction Network, Georgia • Harm Reduction Coalition, USA • Harm Reduction International • HIV Prevention Justice Alliance (HIV PJA) • I-MAK, Initiative for Medicines, Access & Knowledge, USA • International Network of People Using Drugs – INPUD • ITPC Eastern Europe and Central Asia • ITPC North Africa • Mainline, Netherlands • Médecins du Monde, France • National Association of people living with HIV/AIDS in Nepal (NAP+N) • Nava Kiran Plus, Nepal • Pan African Positive Women’s Coalition, Zimbabwe • PILS, Mauritius • Pinoy Plus Association Inc, Philippines • Public Health Program, Open Society Foundations • Red Bolivianas de Personas con VIH de Bolivia (REDBOL) • Sidaction, France • Thai AIDS Treatment Action Group (TTAG), Thailand • Treatment Action Group, USA • Women and Harm Reduction International Network (WHRIN) •