CAIRO: Six patients in solidarity with 80 others afflicted with Hepatitis C filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance (NHI) for using a local drug they said had unsubstantiated efficacy instead of a globally approved one manufactured outside of Egypt. The court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18. The locally manufactured interferon — according to the patients' lawyer, Reda El Barakawy — has not been subjected to studies published in scientific journals to prove the drug's effectiveness and safety, as per international medical standards. “The patients showed significantly low rates of response to the locally manufactured drug,” El Barakawy said. The Egyptian constitution outlines that every Egyptian has the right to the best available medical treatment. NHI patients who receive free treatment are treated with the local interferon. “I am but a simple employee, and a portion of my salary is deducted for [my] NHI subscription,” said Nabil Sallam, a Hepatitis C patient. “Yet I am prevented from getting my basic right of access to the best treatment.” A study conducted in Mansoura University by Dr Gamal Shiha, a professor of liver diseases, showed that the Hepatitis C rates have dropped to as low as 25 percent when using the local drug. However, treatment rates for the globally approved drug are 60–65 percent. However, Director of the National Institute for Liver Diseases Dr. Wahid Doss said that cure rates among Hepatitis C patients provided with the local interferon are 55–60 percent. He added that studies were conducted both before and after the use of interferon was approved in Egypt. Dr. Doss added that the approval of the locally manufactured drug resulted in a significant increase in the number of Egyptian patients who have access to general Hepatitis C treatment. According to Dr. Doss, the number of Hepatitis C patients who have access to treatment has increased from 1,000 patients per year to approximately 40,000 per year thanks to the local drug. “Interferon treatment — unlike other drugs — is a biological drug, which means it needs especially advanced technologies to be produced,” Dina Iskander, a researcher for the Right to Health Program, told Daily News Egypt. “Egypt does not have the technology necessary to produce a copy of this drug. Neither does the US … Only Europe [has the capabilities needed to produce it].” NHI patients raised concerns about being “experimented on” for the sake of reducing the NHI's expenses. “I have filed seven different complaints to the Prime Minister, the head of the Policies Committee of the National Democratic Party, the Minister of Health, and the head of the NHI,” said Mahmoud Shenishan, a Hepatitis C patient. A committee will be formed to study the efficacy of the local drug and will release reports of its findings. According to Doss, the committee will consist of physicians from the US, France and Egypt.
