As per the data of 31 December 2018, free medications -- the price of which totals GEL 560, 645, 083 -- provided to Georgia within the Hepatitis C Treatment Program have expired, according to the financial audit report by the Ministry of Health of Georgia.
The number of beneficiaries involved in the Hepatitis C Program plummeted after 2016: if in 2016, 21, 645 beneficiaries were involved in the program, in 2017, their number decreased to 14, 791, while in 2018, only 10, 206 were left.
The document also reads that GEL 15,4 million was allocated from the budget to treat Hepatitic C in 2018, with GEL 4, 741, 000 only being used for this purpose.
As per the World Health Organization (WHO), Georgia is considered a country with a high prevalence of Hepatitic C. In April of 2015, the Ministry of Health launched a Hepatitic C elimination program, with it aiming to reduce the disease incidence and death rates. Within the framework of the program, Georgia's partners are the WHO and the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The Program is American and is being implemented with the help of Gilead pharmaceutical company.
The possible elimination of Hepatitic C throughout Georgia would be an unprecedented worldwide phenomenon.
