England Treats 100,000 Hepatitis C Patients, Nearing WHO's 2030 Elimination Target
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Aug 10
England Treats 100,000 Hepatitis C Patients, Nearing WHO's 2030 Elimination Target
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 10
Summary
More than 100,000 people in England have been diagnosed and treated for hepatitis C since 2015, putting the country on track to become one of the first to eliminate the virus.
84.6% of people living with hepatitis C had been diagnosed by 2024 and the target of treating 80% of known cases has already been met, helped by A&E blood tests, GP registration screening and free home kits.
Antiviral tablets taken for 8 to 12 weeks cure more than 95% of cases, while hepatitis C deaths in England have fallen 36% over the past decade.
Around 50,200 adults in England were estimated to be living with hepatitis C in 2024, and the remaining WHO benchmark—a 65% cut in mortality from 2015 levels—has not yet been reached.
NHS England is urging higher-risk groups, including adults born in several Eastern European countries and Ukraine, to use confidential self-testing as it pushes to beat the WHO's 2030 deadline.