Hepatitis C Elimination. Are we on course for 2030?

Abstract

The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the year 2030 as a landmark year for “Viral Hepatitis Elimination”. Among the WHO member states, Pakistan has the largest chronic hepatitis C (CHC) infected population and like other countries, Pakistan is also striving for the hepatitis C elimination goal. Baseline screening is the mainstay of dealing with this public health challenge. Innovative interventions are needed, to achieve this goal, such as scale-up of the baseline screening using rapid anti-HCV tests, which can later be followed by HCV RNA. All those who test positive for HCV RNA, require treatment to enable us to reach the milestone of 'Hepatitis C elimination by year 2030'. The modeling done by the CDA to determine the number of people to be tested and treated alongside the support for HCV elimination coming from the Prime Minister's (PM) programme in Pakistan are all the factors, which when put together, show that we might achieve the testing, treatment and cure for those who are currently infected. The yearly addition of new HCV infections may prove to be a major barrier in achieving HCV elimination. Therefore, timely prevention of new infections has to be our number one priority. This article is based on the webinar presentation, made by Dr. Huma Qureshi on the theme of Hepatitis C eradication, in the KEMCA UK Universal Healthcare Programme.