In 2017, Malaysia made headlines as the first country in the world to issue a government-use license to bypass the patent on a key hepatitis C drug—sofosbuvir. This bold move paved the way for Malaysia to develop and roll out an affordable hepatitis C treatment using ravidasvir, in partnership with Drugs for Neglected Diseases Initiative (DNDi). In conjunction with World Hepatitis Day on 28 July, we’re exploring what we’ve achieved so far in making hepatitis C treatment more accessible and what it will take to eliminate this disease for good.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Tee Shiao Eek

Presented by: Tee Shiao Eek

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Categories:  health policy,  managing disease,  medical advances

Tags:  the bigger picture,  health & living,  hepatitis c,  non communicable diseases,  liver cancer,  compulsory licence,  direct-acting antivirals,  sofosbuvir,