As more innovative drugs enter the medical insurance catalog
HIV-infected people have more choices of drug use
China Voice Online, December 1st, December 1st is the World AIDS Day. This year, the theme of my country’s World AIDS Day promotional activities is “To fight AIDS and share health“. We call on everyone to join hands to deal with the risks and challenges brought about by the AIDS epidemic, and advocate the whole society to build, govern and share together. Today, with more innovative drugs entering the medical insurance list, HIV-infected people have more choices of medication, and their lives are slowly changing.
Case: The virus is well controlled and the quality of life has improved
“My life once lost its light.” Zhao Liang (pseudonym), 44 years old, is an HIV-infected person and now works in a logistics company in Changsha.
14 years ago, Zhao Liang, who was engaged in the hairdressing industry, started a business with his friends in Wenzhou. They often went to some entertainment venues and occasionally had high-risk sex. After a party, a friend reminded him that a person close to him was an AIDS carrier. Zhao Liang was stunned, and mustered up the courage to walk into the local CDC, where he was confirmed positive after examination.
As the only son in the family, his father has been urging the marriage, hoping to embrace his grandson as soon as possible. Zhao Liang knew that because of his indulgence, everything was ruined.
Zhao Liang left Wenzhou for Changsha and started taking antiviral drugs. “The side effects are very serious. There are red rashes all over the body. I can’t sleep all night, vomiting, and have no appetite. I lost more than 10 catties in half a year.” In the spring of 2017, Zhao Liang resigned from his job in Changsha. At that time, he had Suicide thoughts.
“When I went upstairs, I ran into the landlord, and the old lady warmly invited me to warm up.” The kindness and concern of the old man encouraged Zhao Liang to find another job. “I used to receive free medicines, and I became resistant to them after a long time.” Zhao Liang said that now he has a stable job and a decent income. Starting from 2021, he will take innovative medicines that are reimbursed by medical insurance under the advice of doctors, and the side effects have been greatly reduced. , The quality of life has also improved.
On December 1, Zhao Liang, who was interviewed by reporters, choked up and said: Fortunately, the virus is currently under control, and life can go on day by day.
Improvement: HIV-infected people have more choices of medicines
“In the beginning, AIDS medicines were very expensive, and many people couldn’t afford them.” Zheng Yuhuang, who is known as the first person to treat “AIDS” in Hunan, is the first-level chief physician of the AIDS Research Department of the Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. He told reporters that with the introduction of my country’s “Four Faces One Care” policy and the emergence of free medicines, many HIV-infected people have survived.
In order to allow domestic HIV-infected people to use and afford good medicines, under the multi-party cooperation of the government and enterprises, the prices of imported original HIV innovative antiviral drugs have been continuously reduced. Many of these varieties have been included in the national medical insurance catalog. After the medical insurance is reimbursed, the cost paid by the patient will be reduced to 100 yuan.
In 2021, three new HIV antiviral drugs were added to the National Medical Insurance List, including Biktarizumab, Lamivudine, Dolutegravir, and Einovirine. At present, my country’s HIV antiviral treatment has a multi-level payment system that combines free treatment + medical insurance payment + self-payment, covering free drugs such as tenofovir (TDF), lamivudine, efavirenz, medical insurance drugs For example, Icoen Bingti Tablets, Biktarizol Tablets, and many other self-funded drugs have met the different medication needs of infected patients.
Taking Changsha City as an example, the innovative HIV drug Biktarvy Tablets has been newly included in the medical insurance this year. The reporter learned from the medical insurance department that after the drug entered the medical insurance, the price was adjusted from 3680 yuan per box to 1125 yuan per box. At present, the medical insurance reimbursement policy for Biktarizol tablets has been implemented in Changsha, with a maximum reimbursement of 70%.
Data: The AIDS epidemic in Hunan is at a low level as a whole
The reporter learned from the Hunan Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention on December 1 that the first infected person was reported in Hunan Province in 1992. As of October 31, 2022, there were 53,030 HIV/AIDS survivors in the province, including 23,353 AIDS cases. From January to October 2022, 5463 new cases of HIV/AIDS (including 1367 cases of AIDS) were newly discovered, a decrease of 8.15% compared with the same period last year.
The AIDS epidemic in our province is basically consistent with the national epidemic situation, and the overall epidemic level is at a low level. However, the epidemic situation is relatively severe, some cases were discovered late, and there are still a certain number of infected people who have not been discovered. The main route of transmission is sexual transmission, heterosexual transmission accounts for about 78%, homosexual transmission accounts for about 17%, and heterosexual transmission is dominated by non-marital sexual contact. The transmission of injecting drugs and mother-to-child transmission are basically controlled, and the transmission of blood collection and supply and blood products is effectively controlled.
What needs to be vigilant is that the number of people aged 50 and above among infected people continues to rise, and the proportion of surviving cases is close to half. Among the newly discovered cases in Changsha, the proportion of homosexual transmission exceeds that of heterosexual transmission.
■ All media reporter Li Qi