Colorized transmission electron micrograph of a hepatitis C virion. Credit: Maria Teresa Catanese and Charles Rice, The Rockefeller University; colorized by NIAID
Key points:
- Hepatitis C virus (HCV) poses a major public health threat despite having a highly effective medication.
- Using a novel mathematical modeling system, researchers determined that Canada will likely miss the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal of eradicating HCV by 2030.
- Researchers say in order to try to meet the WHO goal, efforts should shift away from screening and treatment to harm-reduction strategies.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) poses a major public health threat despite having a highly effective medication. A new study, published in Hepatology, finds that Canada will not reach the original World Health Organization’s (WHO) target of eliminating HCV by 2030 and lags in comparison to other developed countries.
Researchers used a novel mathematical modeling system to determine Canada’s progress toward eliminating HCV. They looked at how the disease was transmitted and how it moved around the population as a result of different risk activities. The model revealed that reaching the WHO goals by 2030 will be impossible without changing the current status quo treatment and screening policies.
“We are not likely to reach the WHO goal of eliminating HCV by 2030 if screening and treatment are the only focus for policymakers,” said lead author William Wong, professor at University of Waterloo. “We need to screen for the disease earlier and encourage harm-reduction strategies to be put in place. If patients do not change high-risk behaviors such as a sharing needles, HCV re-infection can be high even after they were cured the first time.”
Based on their modeling, the research team believes that policymakers should consider implementing harm-reduction strategies such as using clean needle distributions, reducing the sharing of drug use equipment, and preventing other high-risk exposures.
Taking the learnings from this study, researchers hope to integrate their future work with other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections, including hepatitis B virus, human papillomavirus, and HIV.