Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2018 Sep 29:3:12.
doi: 10.1186/s41124-018-0040-9. eCollection 2018.

Strategies for achieving viral hepatitis C micro-elimination in the Netherlands

P A M Kracht  1 , J E Arends  1 , K J van Erpecum  2 , A Urbanus  3 , J A Willemse  4 , A I M Hoepelman  1 , E A Croes  5
Affiliations
Review

Strategies for achieving viral hepatitis C micro-elimination in the Netherlands

P A M Kracht et al. Hepatol Med Policy. .

Abstract

The Netherlands is striving to achieve national elimination of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) as one of the first countries worldwide. The favorable HCV epidemiology with both low prevalence and incidence, together with access to care and treatment, present excellent conditions to further build on towards this objective. The Dutch national plan on viral hepatitis, introduced in 2016, defines targets in the HCV healthcare cascade and provides a structural framework for the development of elimination activities. Since many different stakeholders are involved in HCV care in the Netherlands, focus has been placed on micro-elimination initiatives as a pragmatic and efficient approach. These numerous micro-eliminations projects have brought the Netherlands closer to HCV elimination. In the near future, efforts specifically have to be made in order to optimize case-finding strategies and to successfully accomplish the nationwide implementation of the registration and monitoring system of viral hepatitis mono-infections, before this final goal can be reached. The upcoming years will then elucidate if the Dutch' hands on approach has resulted in sufficient progress against HCV and if the Netherlands will lead the way towards nationwide HCV elimination.

Keywords: Hep-CORE, HCV cascade of care; Hepatitis C virus; Micro-elimination.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Not applicable.Not applicable.AH: advisory boards: Abbvie, BMS, Gilead, Janssen, MSD; consultancy: AbbVie; financial support for HCV retrieval project from Abbvie, BMS, Gilead and MSD; JA: advisory boards: Abbvie, BMS, Gilead, Janssen, MSD and ViiV; research grants: AbbVie, BMS; KvE: advisory boards: Abbvie, BMS, Gilead, Janssen-Cilag; Support for HCV patient care path from Abbvie, Gilead, Janssen-Cilag. The other authors declare that they have no competing interest.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Dutch HCV care cascade
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Dutch HCV healthcare stakeholders
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
All 45 hepatitis treatment centers in the Netherlands [–44]
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. World Health Organization . Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis 2016–2021. 2016.
    1. Hogenbirk R, David S, van Steenbergen J, Urbanus A. Meer dan opsporen, Nationaal hepatitisplan: een strategie voor actie. 2016. http://www.rivm.nl/dsresource?objectid=119820d5-d1fe-440f-83cf-ffb7478f0.... Accessed 2 Apr 2018.
    1. Lazarus JV, Wiktor S, Colombo M, Thursz M. EASL international Liver Foundation. Micro-elimination – a path to global elimination of hepatitis C. J Hepatol. 2017;67(4):665–666. doi: 10.1016/j.jhep.2017.06.033. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Health Council of the Netherlands. Screening risk groups for hepatitis B and C. The Hague: Health Council of the Netherlands; 2016. https://www.gezondheidsraad.nl/documenten/adviezen/2016/11/01/screening-.... Accessed 2 Apr 2018
    1. Veldhuijzen IK, Conyn-van Spaendonck MAE, Dorigo-Zetsma JW. Seroprevalence of hepatitis B and C in the Dutch population. Infect Bull. 1999;10:182–184.

LinkOut - more resources