Health Ministry to finance Hepatitis C medication

MADRID –The Ministry of Health announced recently that it will at last finance a medication that cures Hepatitis C in 90% of cases, but which remained unfinanced because it costs some €60,000 per treatment. Therefore, only 400 of thousands of sufferers have received the medication. El Pais last Tuesday said that at least nine Spaniards had paid for the treatment from their own pockets. However, the Ministry has agreed to pay the manufacturer of the brand Sovaldi, the Gilead laboratory, ‘only’ €25,000 per treatment. It will supposedly be available from November, after nine months of hard negotiation to reduce the cost. (Coming soon: What is 'Hep C '? and more on this important subject.)