News
STEP UP TESTING TO MEET
HEP C TARGET, SAY MPS
‘SIGNIFICANTLY GREATER’ numbers of people need to be
tested, diagnosed and treated in order to eliminate
hepatitis C, according to a report from the All Party
Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Liver Health. England
needs to agree on a national elimination strategy if it is to
make the most of a ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to
eradicate the virus, the group stresses.
The report is the result of an inquiry by cross-party MPs
and peers, in which expert contributors ‘overwhelmingly
agreed’ that England is currently not on track to achieve
either the NHS target of eliminating the virus by 2025 or
the World Health Organization target of elimination by
2030. ‘The upcoming deal between NHS England and the
pharmaceutical industry must include innovative new
measures to find those still living with hepatitis C and
engage them into treatment,’ says the APPG.
The report urges the government to ‘express its explicit
support’ for the elimination agenda, and make sure that
the agreement between the NHS and industry includes
ambitious national and regional targets, as well as
mechanisms to make sure funds