Psychological and economic barriers to the treatment of viral hepatitis C in Ukraine

Myths about viral hepatitis and, as a result, stigma and discrimination:

• Hepatitis is a disease of marginalized people
• Medications are expensive and ineffective
• Free medications are unavailable or take a very long time to obtain

Information about my diagnosis is not confidential

Decision.

• Informing the general public and healthcare professionals:

about transmission routes, diagnosis, and treatment of viral hepatitis

• through accessible and easy-to-use resources regarding drug availability, delivery schedules, and quantities
• on the protection of personal data and criminal liability for the disclosure of a diagnosis by healthcare professionals

Remoteness of services: for example, Kyiv has 3 million residents but only two healthcare facilities that distribute free hepatitis C medications

Solutions:

• Patients obtaining free antiviral hepatitis medications at a pharmacy with a doctor’s prescription

Cost of pre-treatment diagnostics for hepatitis C: 750 to 3,780 hryvnias

Decision:

• Include the necessary tests in existing NHIC packages
• Include their cost in the budgets of NGO projects

This is a summary of the presentation by Yuriy Voynalovich, Director of the non-governmental organization “BCD,” at the Training on the Integration of Mental Health Services, Substitution Maintenance Therapy, and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis

held at the Ramada Encore Hotel in Kyiv on September 23–24, 2024, organized by the WHO Regional Office for Europe.

It’s time to act.

We continue to raise awareness about hepatitis and encourage everyone to get tested, treated, and vaccinated.

We advocate for access to testing, treatment, and vaccination for everyone.

Statistics and facts:

In 2022, 1.3 million people lost their lives to hepatitis—and new data from the World Health Organization shows that the number of deaths is rising.

Every day, 3,500 people worldwide die from hepatitis B and C.

Every 30 seconds, someone loses their life to a hepatitis-related illness:

• Hepatitis is currently the deadliest virus in the world.
• Hepatitis is the leading cause of liver cancer.
• 80% of all liver cancer cases are linked to hepatitis B or C.

More than 300 million people are living with viral hepatitis.

In 2022, 254 million people were living with hepatitis B and 50 million with hepatitis C.

- More than two million new cases of viral hepatitis are reported each year.

More than 6,000 people are infected with viral hepatitis every day.