KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is gearing up to be a regional Hepatitis C treatment hub by offering a combination treatment of ravidasvir and sofosbuvir at affordable rates, says Khairy Jamaluddin.
The Health Minister said Malaysia was able to offer the drug combination as a new medical tourism product after it became the first country to be given conditional approval to provide the treatment.
“We will market this treatment to travellers from abroad and since it is a medium-term treatment for about three months, we expect a multiplier effect on the economy,” he told a press conference at the insigHT 2021 conference here yesterday. Khairy said the offer was in line with the World Health Organisation’s mission to reduce the spread of hepatitis virus infection by 90% and reduce the number of deaths from the virus by 65% by 2030.
The ministry will identify special hospitals to carry out the initiative.
Khairy said the medical tourism sector had great potential to boost the economy, as it had generated an annual revenue of about RM1.7bil before the Covid-19 pandemic.
“For this year, due to the travel restrictions, we are targeting RM520mil in revenue.
“Next year we are targeting RM800mil, and based on the MHTC’s (Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council) plans, in 2025 we are targeting to reach pre-pandemic levels again,” he said.
The insigHT 2021, a three-day medical travel market intelligence conference, is organised by MHTC.
Also present were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah and MHTC chief executive officer Mohd Daud Mohd Arif.
Dr Noor Hisham said studies on the use of a combination of ravidasvir and sofosbuvir proved to be up to 97% effective in treating Hepatitis C with very low side effects.
“Previously, treatment that required a compulsory licence was only offered in public hospitals.
“Now it can be done in private hospitals using a voluntary licence,” he said.