NEW DELHI - Marco, a 40-year-old from Trentino, has hepatitis C. In Italy, the drug to treat the disease is expensive 74 thousand euros, too high a figure for man. So Marco decides to go and buy medicine in India, where it is expensive 700 euros. A more affordable figure that can change his life.
As reported by the newspaper The Republic, that of the 40-year-old from Trentino would be the first Italian case of health tourism. Form of tourism denounced by the National Patients' Court: "While the institutions decide whether and how to treat more people, Italian hepatitis C patients go to India, or to Hong Kong to get medicines at affordable prices".
The drug consists of the molecule sofosbuvir, developed by the American pharmaceutical company Gilead and ensures a cure in 90-95% of cases.
As Repubblica reports, the problem with medicine is that the price to the public is 74 thousand euros. Enough to make the national health system break the bank, which last year admitted the drug into public facilities at the "subsidized" price of 37 thousand euros. But only for the most serious cases.
Marco, on the other hand, is at the beginning of the disease. And he found himself last on the waiting list. For this reason he decided to fly to India.
Tuesday 4 August 2015 – il Mattino.it
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