Feasibility of Hepatitis C Elimination by Screening and Treatment Alone in High-Income Countries

Despite the availability of highly effective direct-acting antiviral therapy, chronic hepatitis C (CHC) continues to cause a major public health burden. In many high-income countries, treatment rates have been declining, which was exacerbated by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, threatening the ability to meet the World Health Organization (WHO)’s targets for eliminating HCV as a public health threat by 2030.

A study, published in Hepatology, developed an agent-based model to characterize the HCV epidemic in Canada, a resource-rich country with ongoing immigration from HCV-endemic regions, relying exclusively on risk-based screening for case identification.

The model showed that current risk-based screening, and subsequent treatment, will be inadequate to achieve WHO goals. With extensive scale-up in screening, and treatment, the mortality target may be achievable, but the target for preventing new CHC cases is unlikely reachable, highlighting the importance of developing enhanced harm-reduction strategies for HCV elimination.

Full study results can be accessed here.

An accompanying editorial can be accessed here.