HCV burden in Europe and the possible impact of current treatment

Abstract

An important proportion of hepatitis C virus patients in Europe are unaware of their condition with substantial discrepancies between European countries in terms of hepatitis C virus screening. Factors contributing to low screening rates likely include limited physician awareness, reluctance of patients to admit to unsafe past behaviours, and lack of efficient public health policy for HVC screening. It becomes urgent to define innovative public health policy to improve hepatitis C virus screening that is the only choice allowing non-tested hepatitis C virus patients access to therapy as hepatitis C virus patients remain undiagnosed until they develop advanced liver disease. European health authorities should encourage innovative approaches to increase the proportion of hepatitis C virus persons aware of their condition, such as those proposed recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Antiviral treatment will impact on hepatitis C virus-related morbidity and mortality with marked differences between European countries. In genotype 1 patients, protease inhibitors-based triple therapy would considerably impact the hepatitis C virus-related incidence of cirrhosis and deaths. There is an urgent need for the reinforcement of hepatitis C virus screening and access to therapy when considering their major impact on hepatitis C virus-related morbidity and mortality. In Europe, although clinicians from different countries are using the same therapies, impact on morbidity and mortality across countries will significantly vary.

Keywords: Antiviral treatment; HCV screening; HCV-related morbidity and mortality; Modeling; Protease inhibitors; Viral eradication.