Around 80 seriously ill patients with the advanced liver disease received a new treatment that cleared 95% of them of any evidence of the virus throughout their blood stream.
The programme is being managed by the Irish Hepatitis C Outcomes and Research Network (ICORN) which is based at St James’s Hospital.
The combination of drugs were made available after negotiations between the Health Service Executive (HSE), the Department of Health and four other drug companies.
The treatment will be provided across 7 specialist centres throughout Ireland.
Dr Suzanne Norris, Professor of Gastroenterology and Hepatology Trinity College Dublin and St James’s Hospital described these staggering results as “transformable”.
Patients will be examined over the next 12-24 weeks to determine their response.
It is estimated that 15,000 people in Ireland have Hepatitis C that they are aware of but that there are 50,000 people that have the virus that are not aware.
The Irish Haemophilia Society stated that Hepatitis C patients should have “immediate access to potential lifesaving therapies”. The society calls on the Minister for Health and the HSE to agree and approve quickly and say that “early access to the programme saves lives and money”.