Opinion | Political will needed to end the unnecessary suffering of hepatitis C patients
- Drugs with a near-100 per cent cure rate have been available for years. To ensure that these are widely available, political leadership and funding are needed
The advancement seemed poised to transform the lives of millions worldwide living with the hepatitis C virus, drastically reducing the death and chronic health problems it caused.
To make good on the promise of direct-acting antivirals and secure a future without this avoidable suffering, we should commit to scaling up hepatitis C virus testing and treatment programmes around the world.
Eliminating the global burden of this virus demands funding not only for diagnostics and drugs, but a decentralised, simplified testing and point-of-care treatment model, bringing care closer to patients. Drug users, men who have sex with men, sex workers, unhoused people and others disproportionately marginalised who lack consistent access to healthcare should also benefit from dedicated care strategies, including education and psychosocial support.
Investing in hepatitis C virus screening and treatment works – and there’s plenty of evidence to prove it. An US$8.1 million project funded by the global health agency Unitaid enabled the screening of 154,000 people for the virus, detecting and treating nearly 20,000 patients and saving over 1,600 lives in Malaysia. The return on investment was estimated to be US$47.7 million.