New deal to help eliminate hepatitis C

The NHS will find and cure tens of thousands more people with hepatitis C as part of a ground-breaking deal that could help England become the first country in the world to eliminate the deadly virus.

That is the pledge from NHS England, who has announced that it will work with three drug companies to proactively identify and treat others who may be unaware they have hepatitis C, including homeless people and those with mental health problems. Over 30,000 people have already benefitted from new drugs which cure hepatitis C being made available on the NHS over the last few years.

As a result, the death rate from hepatitis C-related liver diseases has already fallen by more than 16 per cent between 2015 and 2017. The NHS is also seeing cost savings from a fall in liver transplants for patients with hepatitis C, with a reduction of almost 40 per cent in 2017 compared to 2015.

It is estimated that 113,000 people in England are living with chronic hepatitis C. Health experts warn that many people with hepatitis C will be living without a diagnosis, due to the infection often having no specific symptoms until the liver has been significantly damaged.

Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: “It’s not often that the opportunity arises to completely eradicate a disease, but now the NHS is taking practical action to achieve exactly that. The NHS’s sophisticated and unashamedly rigorous negotiation on behalf of both patients and taxpayers means we’ve now been able to strike affordable deals with our life sciences partners to save many more lives and meaningfully cut health inequalities.”

Rachel Halford, chief executive of The Hepatitis C Trust, said: “The Hepatitis C Trust is delighted with this development. 69 per cent of people who have the virus are currently undiagnosed so the funding in the deal to help find those with hepatitis C and support them into treatment is groundbreaking.

“We believe this deal offers a unique opportunity for all stakeholders – patient organisations, pharmaceutical companies, clinicians, prison healthcare and drug misuse services –  to work together to reach all those affected. By making sure we reach the most marginalised and hardest to engage we will ensure that no one is left behind and stop unnecessary deaths.”