The Ministry of Health (MOH) is implementing an ambitious program for the treatment of patients with hepatitis C by very safe and effective medicines; with a view to eliminate the disease by 2030, Allah Willing. Priority is currently given through this program to those patients most vulnerable to the deterioration of liver function and the categories that can transmit communicable diseases to others, regardless of all stages of the disease, such as women of childbearing age and patients with renal failure.]
The MOH pointed out that the treatment period ranges from 12 to 24 weeks, and the patient is considered free of the virus if the his blood tests shows negative three months after the treatment has been completed. “All praise be to Allah, 2,000 patients have started the treatment using these modern medicines at 22 liver clinics throughout the Kingdom, and by testing a number of cases that completed the treatment, the results showed that cure rates amounted up to 97%,” it stated.
Furthermore, the Ministry underlined that chronic hepatitis caused by hepatitis C leads to cirrhosis over the long term; the matter which may lead to liver failure and in some cases to liver cancer, adding that traditional medications are with limited effectiveness, meanwhile accompanied by severe side effects (of cure rate not more than 20%).
It is worth mentioning that the Ministry has presented these encouraging results in the International Conference of the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases, which is currently being held in Boston, given that it is reckoned the largest and most important conference of liver disease worldwide.