3 October 2015 - A new Dallas-style buyers club to help thousands of hepatitis C sufferers get life-saving drugs at a fraction of the cost being charged by a pharmaceutical giant has been inundated with inquiries in its first week.

Visits to the FixHepC website shot up from 5000 to more than 217,000 after a report on the initiative was published by Fairfax Media last weekend.

Buyers club spokesman Dr John Freeman said: "We are now helping patients from 83 countries to quite legally import the new drugs they need from China, India and Bangladesh and have them tested.

"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.

For more details, go to: http://www.smh.com.au/national/health/fixhepc-the-buyers-club-for-hepatitis-c-drug-inundated-with-inquiries-20151002-gjzud9.html