Great News for Public Health: By 2030, Hepatitis C Won’t Be Problem Anymore

The number of hepatitis C cases is steadily decreasing in England, United Kingdom, to the point where authorities are expected to officially eliminate the bloodborne virus as a public health problem by 2030.

“It is really encouraging to see cases of chronic hepatitis C declining in England,” says Dr. Jenny Harries, the CEO of the UK Health Security Agency. “We must keep pushing this trend downwards – too many people continue to be affected by this debilitating but preventable condition.”

The number of cases went from 129,000 in 2015 to 81,000 in 2020 – a 37% decline in the general population. That percentage reaches 40% among intravenous drug users. The number of deaths related to the life-threatening liver diseases associated with hepatitis C has also fallen, from 482 in 2015 to 314 in 2020, a greater proportion than the World Health Organization’s target of a 10% drop. Between April 2015 and March 2021, around 58,500 treatments were administered with a success rate of 95%.