A Glimmer Of Hope...Or Is It?

Why does the UK seem to so far behind the US and other countries in the treatment and mangement of Hep C? We were looking for a local Hep C support group recently and couldn't find one at all. My partner was working as a Criminal Justice Drugs Worker for 6 years and one of his tasks was setting up a Hep C support group in a city 30 miles away - that group seems to be the closest one to us. Am I unreasonable to think there should be a Hep support group in every City? UPDATE: My mistake, there are actually 2 support groups here, however neither are suitable for my partners needs. One reason is that he worked as a drugs worker, all his clients with Hep C go to these groups and he doesn't want them to see him. Another is that a lot of the people who go to these groups don't actually have Hep! Refreshments are served and it's more of a social event than a support group (a lot of the local homeless attend). Another reason is that he doesn't think the people running the groups have sufficient knowledge on the subject and cannot offer him the support he needs....

Not to mention the treatments. I read a very interesting article last year, documenting the REALIZE study. If you're not familiar with it, it was a phase 3 study of Telaprevir (a direct acting anti viral agent) which involved patients with Genotype 1 Hep C who had previously failed to respond to currently available treatments. The study showed that 83% of these patients who had previously relapsed on existing treatments, were successfully cured with the Telaprevir.

So when exactly is Telaprevir going to be available in the UK to those who fall into the above catagory? This treatment sounds perfect for my partner. Not just perfect but possibly his only hope of beating Hep C. Once his system is clear of the virus we could begin to look into lengthening his life with a transplant which obviously would be impossible at this stage.

If I look online for research studies, drug trials etc, everything seems to be happening in the US. The closest we've found in the UK are volunteers required to give blood and tissue samples for investigation. That's all well and good but where are the clinical trials??

I feel like we are being kept in the dark and it so frustrating.