Old friend, new treatment

My keywords for 2016 are "availability" and "recovery". I've been working as a health reporter for nearly 10 years, and it's essential to refresh one's passion and faith in the power of journalism.

For me, that happened this year thanks to "Lao" (a nickname meaning "senior" or "old") Bai, a special friend I got to know many years ago during an interview about direct-acting antiviral drugs, one of the most effective treatments for hepatitis C.

The drugs, which can overcome the virus completely and with fewer side effects than many alternative treatments, became available in overseas markets in 2011. However, as a result of the long, complex registration procedure, they have never been available in China, despite the fact that the country has the world's highest incidence of hepatitis C.