"They pay between $1000 to $2000 each to get better, rather than the $84,000 charged in America by Gilead Sciences. It's still expensive but, for many, at least it's affordable." The response to the FixHepC Buyers Club comes in a week when 27 health organisations signed an open letter to Health Minister Sussan Ley calling on her to approve the new drugs recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. "These new treatments cure hepatitis C and represent a lifeline for many people. Yet, despite being recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee six months ago, these medicines are still awaiting consideration by the federal cabinet," the letter stated. "With exceptionally high cure rates, shorter treatment duration and fewer side-effects than existing therapies, interferon-free medicines hold the key to preventing liver cirrhosis, liver cancer and liver failure – not to mention halting the rising death toll associated with untreated hepatitis C." A spokesman for the minister said negotiations with the drug company over pricing were "ongoing".

The drugs recommended by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee are Daklinza (daclatasvir), Harvoni (ledipasvir with sofosbuvir), and Sovaldi (sofosbuvir). But if Australia has to pay anything like the US price while treating all its hepatitis C sufferers, it would double the cost of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from $10 billion a year to $20 billion. Some hepatitis C sufferers aren't prepared to wait for a decision when there is a 95 per cent chance of curing themselves in just 12 weeks by taking a pill a day for a few thousand dollars, instead of the astronomical prices charged by Gilead in America. Tasmanian bricklayer Andrew Clark, 58, paid $2960 to import the drugs he needed from China. After 26 days, a blood test showed he was free of hepatitis C for the first time in 40 years. "I feel like a teenager again," he said. "Some years ago I tried getting treated with Interferon but after 12 weeks it was still doing nothing and the side-effects were terrible, so I stopped.

"Then I heard about the new drugs and how to get them legally from China with a doctor's prescription and it's turned everything around. The hep C was slowly taking its toll and I was having to take a rest in the afternoon, but now I'm doing everything with a lot more enthusiasm." His partner of 23 years, Anne Laughton, said: "Hep C was like the elephant in the room. He never spoke about it. "When he was on the Interferon it was terrible. He's not a depressive but he had awful mood swings and even got suicidal at one point, so I told him he had to stop. "I was sceptical about him getting these drugs from China but since he's been taking them he's a lot happier and it's good to see him spring out of bed in the morning instead of my having to get him up." Dr James Freeman from GP2U Telehealth, who is Dr John Freeman's son, said: "I'm really grateful for the work my father is doing with the buyers club. What it does for me as a GP is allow me to prescribe medications that cure hepatitis C secure in the knowledge my patients will get what they need.

"Here's a typical email: 'Thanks so much again. I was shut down by Gilead and every source here. $1000 per day for one little pill, and every day for 84 days pay the man, or just die ... You are keeping people alive and giving much needed hope'." What is hepatitis C? Hepatitis C, which was discovered in 1988, spreads through blood-to-blood contact.

About 150 million people are infected globally – 233,000 of them in Australia, where there are 10,200 new cases a year. The disease kills 500,000 each year.

Source: Hepatitis Australia and WHO