New data on hepatitis C released by the Polaris Observatory shows that nine countries — Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Georgia, Germany, Iceland, Japan, the Netherlands, and Qatar — are on course to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030.
Globally, viral hepatitis kills more than one million people each year, and over 300 million people are chronically infected with hepatitis B or C. However, with the development of highly effective direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) for hepatitis C and the increase in treatment rates for hepatitis B and vaccination coverage globally, the elimination of viral hepatitis has become a real possibility.
Brazil committed to gradually lifting treatment restrictions in 2018, meaning the country will be able to treat all people infected with hepatitis C, ensuring it is on track to eliminate hepatitis C. Previously, treatment was restricted only to the most severe patients with advanced liver disease.
“Brazil has been advocating for hepatitis on the world stage for many years and has pushed for an intensified global response to hepatitis,” says Adele Schwartz Benzaken, director of the Department of Surveillance, Prevention, and Control of STIs, HIV/AIDS, and Viral Hepatitis at the Ministry of Health. “In addition to the work we have already done on hepatitis B, opening vaccination to the entire population, we are now gradually removing restrictions on access to hepatitis C treatment – so that, starting in 2018, the entire infected population can be treated, not just the most severe cases.”