Over 100,000 people in England have accessed potentially life-saving treatment for hepatitis C in the last 10 years as part of a groundbreaking NHS programme, new figures show.
NHS data shows that since the roll-out of pioneering antiviral drugs in 2015, over 100,000 people have been diagnosed and treated for hep C, with England on track to be one of the first countries in the world to eliminate the virus.
Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver and if left untreated, can sometimes cause serious and potentially life-threatening liver damage. It often does not have any noticeable symptoms until the liver has already been significantly damaged, meaning many people have the infection without realising it. Treatment involves a free course of antiviral tablets lasting eight to 12 weeks, which cures more than 95% of cases.
The figures come as the NHS urges those at greater risk of having undiagnosed hepatitis C – including those who have moved to England from certain Eastern European countries, those who have had a tattoo abroad, or those who use or have previously used injectable drugs – to order a free and confidential home-testing kit online to help rule the virus out.
Adults born in Ukraine, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Albania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czechia or Slovakia are particularly urged to test, as many could have been potentially infected through medical or dental procedures before 1991, when modern sterilisation standards were introduced.
Once a life-limiting diagnosis, hepatitis C is now a curable condition and effective treatment is estimated to reduce the number of people needing liver transplants by 80% over the next decade, while cutting cases of liver cancer and cirrhosis.
England is one of handful of countries globally to have already exceeded the WHO benchmark of treating 80% of all known cases, with deaths from the virus being reduced by 36% in the last ten years.
The NHS has ramped up testing in the last five years, launching a first-of-its kind programme to test patients having a blood test in many A&Es, which has found 1,900 previously undiagnosed cases since 2022 – alongside asking all new patients registering at GP practices if they had a blood transfusion before 1996 to find any undiagnosed patients affected by the contaminated blood scandal.
The treatment drive offering curative treatment to over 100,000 people has been made possible by a landmark deal struck by the NHS in 2019 with pharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences, MSD and AbbVie, bringing cutting-edge cures to patients at a huge scale.
The free NHS home testing portal at hepctest.nhs.uk offers a confidential route to test without needing to speak to a GP. Running for over three years, it is designed to reach people not already in contact with drug and alcohol services, sexual health services or A&E – including those who may have been exposed to contaminated blood and do not wish to disclose that history to their doctor.
Professor Frankie Swords, NHS National Medical Director, said: “Hepatitis C can cause serious harm, including liver failure and cancer, yet many people live with it for years without knowing or having any symptoms at all until it’s too late. England is now leading the world in the mission to eliminate this disease and on course to beat the WHO’s 2030 target, but we are determined to keep up the momentum and finish the job.”