Hepatitis C Trust contributes to BBC Radio Wales programme

The Hepatitis C Trust’s Chief Executive, Charles Gore, yesterday featured in a BBC Radio Wales broadcast on hepatitis C. This week’s episode of the current affairs programme Eye on Wales, hosted by Kayley Thomas, focussed on hepatitis C patients buying treatments online, often through so-called ‘buyers’ clubs’.
During the programme, Charles Gore highlighted the mental strain of having an infectious disease and how this can lead people to take desperate measures: “People do not like having an infectious disease … When I was cured, the first time I saw on a doctor’s form for bloods, ‘no known infection’, I almost burst into tears. I hadn’t realised how at a subconscious level, this idea of being infectious had affected me. So because there are people who have other very good reasons for wanting treatment and for wanting it now, the buyers’ clubs definitely fulfil a need, sad as it is that we have this need.”
However, while noting that it is legal to purchase drugs for oneself (but not for others), he went on to caution: “The important thing to remember about buying for yourself online is to be safe because hepatitis C is not that straightforward. The right drugs, the right combination for the right amount of time, depends on the state of your liver and your genotype. And one does not want people making mistakes. You also want to make sure that you’ve sourced it from somewhere that is providing proper quality drugs.”
The programme can be listened to in full here.
The Hepatitis C Trust’s advice on buying hepatitis C drugs online can be accessed here.