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Targeting Hep B
Two new drugs, recently approved by the B.C. government to treat hepatitis B just may go a long way in treating the virus in a community that needs it most – Asian-Canadians.
Hepatitis B patients will now have access to two new drug therapies - Hepsera and Baraclude - through the PharmaCare program, announced Health Minister George Abbott on Mar. 25 in Vancouver.
The new drugs are expected to be helpful to those who are immune to the drugs covered under the current PharmaCare program.
It is estimated that around 60,000 British Columbians are living with chronic hepatitis B, a virus that infects the liver and can result in liver inflammation, cirrhosis and liver cancer. The disease is particularly prevalent among people of Asian descent.
“We welcome the government’s decision to make these new drugs available for hepatitis B patients,” said Tung Chan, CEO of S.U.C.C.E.S.S, and immigrant serving agency that has been lobbying the B.C. government for more, and more affordable treatment options for hepatitis B sufferers.
“Many patients in Chinese communities and other ethnic origins across B.C. now have even more options and better drug coverage through B.C.’s PharmaCare program,” said Tung in a statement.
Why more Asian-Canadians suffer from the virus is not completely clear, said Dr. Mel Krajden, director of B.C. Hepatitis Services at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
In Asia, often the chronic disease is passed from mother to child. “What happens in China and in other parts of Asia is that there are a lot of moms who are chronically infected,” said Krajden.
In China, about 50 per cent of the population has had the infection at some time, and about 10 to 15 per cent of these are chronic infections, said Krajden. Without vaccinations or medication, between 70 and 85 per cent of children in China are expected to be infected at birth.
The disease, said Krajden, often comes from overseas. In Canada, the rate of infection is miniscule- between .02 and 0.5 per cent. The rate of the disease in immigrant populations is 4.3 per cent.
The low rates of the disease in B.C. are largely the result of an aggressive screening process for mothers and infants, and an immunization program that began in 1992.
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