Overview
- This week NHS England said it has exceeded the World Health Organization benchmark of treating 80% of known hepatitis C cases, and that more than 100,000 people have been diagnosed and treated since 2015.
- Deaths linked to hepatitis C have fallen about 36% over the past decade, a decline health officials attribute to widespread use of direct‑acting antiviral pills that cure over 95% of treated infections after an eight to 12‑week course.
- New testing routes — including A&E blood checks, testing when patients register with a GP and free confidential at‑home kits — have helped find people who were previously undiagnosed and prompted rapid treatment.
- Surveillance still shows gaps: 2024 estimates put around 50,200 adults living with hepatitis C in England and about 84.6% diagnosed, short of the WHO 90% diagnosis goal and a 65% mortality reduction target for 2030.
- The campaign’s scale-up was enabled by a 2019 NHS agreement with drug companies that widened affordable access to antivirals, and the progress carries added weight because it follows the closure of the Infected Blood Inquiry into historic contaminated‑blood harms.