The World Health Organisation has published its mid-term report on progress towards implementing the 'Global health sector strategies on HIV, viral hepatitis and sexually transmitted infections'. The UK signed up to the 'Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis 2016-21', committing to eliminating hepatitis C by 2030.
The report highlights the need to strengthen data and update hepatitis data more regularly. It states that global targets for reducing mortality from viral hepatitis will not be met 'without massively accelerating universal access to testing' and treatment.
Hepatitis C Annual Epidemiological Report for 2017
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The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control has published a new report on the prevalence of hepatitis C in Europe. The report indicates a 10% decrease in newly reported hepatitis C cases from 2016 to 2017, but also warns of the under-reporting of diagnosed cases and the variation of national testing practices impacting the reliability of this statistic. Headline figures show that 5.6 million Europeans live with chronic hepatitis C, with more than 31,000 recorded cases in 2017. The highest rate of newly diagnosed cases was among men between 25 and 44 years old, and injecting drug use was still the predominant route of transmission though the report highlights increasing concerns over incidence of hepatitis C among men who have sex with men. The report recommends targeted local prevention methods as outlined by the WHO action plan.
