Despite fall in drug price, hepatitis still deadly: WHO

Hepatitis is spread through injecting drug use and unsafe use of syringes

Prices of drugs to cure hepatitis C and to treat hepatitis B are dropping dramatically, offering affordability and hope to 325 million people living with the viral liver disease that can be fatal, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Thursday.

A generic antiviral drug for hepatitis C, which can be cured in three months, was placed this week on WHO’s list of pre-qualified medicines. That means it can be used safely by aid agencies and countries for bulk purchasing.

“Indeed, the first drug sofosbuvir has now been pre-qualified, that means it is quality-assured through the WHO prequalified