Nearly ten years after the first breakthrough medicines to eradicate hepatitis C were authorized in the United States, a new CDC analysis reveals that the majority of people with the viral infection still have not been cured.
“Tens of thousands of Americans with hepatitis C are getting liver cancer, suffering liver failure, or dying because they can’t access lifesaving medicine,” Dr. Jonathan Mermin; director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP); said in June 29 CDC press release. “In our nation, no one should have to live knowing a cure for their potentially deadly disease is available, but out of reach.”
The release underscored the pressing need for a planned national program that would significantly reduce the suffering and deaths caused by the illness that afflicts more than 2 million Americans. If the condition is not treated, it frequently results in catastrophic and occasionally fatal effects such as liver cancer and liver failure. The virus was a factor in the deaths of nearly 15,000 people in 2020.
While there is an oral treatment for hepatitis C that is both safe and efficient, the release noted that barriers to treatment included challenges in diagnosing the infection, the cost of treatment and restrictive treatment coverage policies.
A startlingly small percentage of patients with confirmed hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection are being treated, according to the recent CDC analysis. The study also offers the first accurate picture of those with no health insurance who have been cured.
The percentages of those who were cured were low overall and low for all assessed insurance groups, regardless of age; the data revealed. Cure rate was lowest among those under 40—who, incidentally, have the highest incidence of new hepatitis C infections. Cure rate was also lowest among those who either do not have health insurance or have Medicaid coverage. The cure rate was highest among those 60 and older who have either commercial insurance or Medicare, yet fewer than half of that group have received treatment.
“The development of a safe and highly effective cure for hepatitis C is one of the most stunning medical achievements of the past 20 years,” Dr. Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health, who is the lead of the White House National Hepatitis C Elimination Program, said in the release. “But unfortunately, too many people in our country still face insurmountable barriers to accessing this treatment – which means we must work harder. The proposed National Hepatitis C Elimination Program includes bold and transformative actions that will overcome many of these barriers, potentially saving tens of thousands of lives and tens of billions of health care dollars – compassionate care that also contributes to deficit reduction. This is a truly historic opportunity.”
