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Abstract Details
Securing Wider EU Commitment to the Elimination of HCV
Liver Int. 2022 Oct 5. doi: 10.1111/liv.15446. Online ahead of print.
24Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, and UCD School of Medicine, Dublin, Ireland.
25Serviço de Gastrenterologia e Hepatologia, Hospital Santa Maria, Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte EPE, Lisboa, Portugal.
26Clinic for Infectious Diseases and Febrile Illnesses, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
27Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Solvenia.
28Department of Internal Medicine & Gastroenterology (IMuG) Hepatology, Endocrinology, Rheumatology and Nephrology with Centralized Emergency Department (ZAE), Klagenfurt, Austria.
29Department of Hepatology, Université de Paris, APHP, Hopital Cochin, Paris, France.
30Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
31Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, Romania.
32Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens Medical School, Athens, Greece.
33Department of Gastroenterology, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University School of Medicine, Istanbul, Turkey.
34Department of Medicine, Inova Health Fairfax Medical Campus, Falls Church, Virginia, USA.
35Division of Internal Medicine and Hepatology, Department of Gastroenterology, IRCCS Humanitas Clinical and Research Hospital, Rozzano, Milan, Italy.
36Department of Gastroenterology, Medical School of National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Abstract
In 2016, the Hepatitis B and C Public Policy Association (HepBCPPA), gathered all the main stakeholders in the field of hepatitis C virus (HCV) to launch the now landmark HCV Elimination Manifesto, calling for the elimination of HCV in the EU by 2030. Since then, many European countries have made progress towards HCV elimination. Multiple programs - from the municipality level to the EU level - were launched, resulting in an overall decrease of viremic HCV infections and liver-related mortality. However, as of 2021, most countries are not on track to reach the 2030 HCV elimination targets set by the WHO. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a decrease in HCV diagnoses and fewer direct acting antiviral treatment initiations in 2020. Diagnostic and therapeutic tools to easily diagnose and treat chronic HCV infection are now well established. Treating all patients with chronic HCV infection is more cost-saving than treating and caring for patients with liver-related complications, decompensated cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma. It is more important than ever to reinforce and scale-up action towards HCV elimination. Yet, efforts urgently need the dedicated commitment of policymakers at all governmental and policy levels. Therefore, the 3rd EU Policy Summit, held in March 2021, featured EU parliamentarians and other key decision makers to promote dialogue and take strides towards securing wider EU commitment to advance and achieve HCV elimination by 2030. We have summarized the key action points and report the 'Call-to-Action' statement supported by all the major relevant European associations in the field.