Pharma Rebels Call for Individuals to Import Generic Cures for Hep C Epidemic

Yesterday, a British group of activists launched "Pharma Rebels," an international call for people who can't access Hep C medication to exploit legal loopholes and import low-cost generic cures costing around $100.

Right now, 70 million people worldwide are affected by hepatitis C but Gilead, the U.S. company who has the patent for the drugs in most countries, is pricing them out of the reach of people who need them. In the U.S. this medicine costs $84,000, and thousands who need the drug cannot access it.

Featuring voices from the Hep C patient community and buyers, the campaign from Peng! Collective highlights the import of generics as a safe and reliable alternative and a means for self-organizing for affordable medicines when they are not available on home soil because of patents and high prices.

The campaign launched online at www.pharmarebels.com with a video and website with information about generic import. A pop-up generics pharmacy with David Cowley, who runs the buyers club Hep C World Generic Treatment on Facebook, will be in London on Wednesday 4 October 2017. It will visit Gilead's HQ to stage a confrontation about prices, and it will head to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to share information with patients.

The campaign follows actions last week by the Peng Collective about the high prices set by Gilead. The group created a fake rebranding campaign for Gilead's medicine online and hijacked the stage of a London Health conference, to stage the critique of life-saving medicines sold as luxury products. See the mock 'Gilead' ad below that features the tagline "Buy your life back today."

In an article on Other 98, journalist Caitlin McClure writes, "The fake ad seems over the top at first, with models dripping yellow paint out of their mouths while showing off '#JustC' branded hoodies and hats. But the longer it goes on, the more you realize it's not really saying anything different from a standard pharma ad; it's just way more blatant about it, ending with the slogan 'Buy your life back today.'"

About the campaign, Molly Thomas, from Peng said, "If the pharmaceutical companies insist on setting such high prices, which cripple national healthcare providers and health insurance companies and access to the medicine is limited, there is no other option but to self-organize. People did this with the HIV crisis, and finally, governments buckled and relaxed patent laws. This can happen again."

The group suggests that until this happens, patients who cannot get treatment through their usual healthcare provider should be made aware of the affordability and reliability of generic medicines imported from abroad, and use the legal loopholes available to enforce their right to health.