Quick diagnosis is essential for Hepatitis C

The development of treatments opens up an era of cure

Re-treatment options are available

It's a difficult situation because there are difficulties

Pharmaceutical companies such as BMS, Gilead, and Abbvie introduced direct anti-virus (DAA) treatments, and hepatitis C opened the era of complete recovery.

 

Re-treatment options for a small number of patients who failed to treat also appeared this year.

 

The goal of hepatitis C is to find "hidden patients" who have not yet been diagnosed.

 

Experts stress that national checkups should include hepatitis C.

 

Bruce Kreter, general manager of Global Medical, who was in charge of the development of hepatitis C treatment at Gilead, and Ahn Sang-hoon, a professor of gastroenterology at Yonsei University Severance Hospital, asked about the current status of hepatitis C screening at home and abroad.

 

◆ Government-led hepatitis C screening test vs.

 

repeated discussions for years The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the fight against hepatitis C by 2030 and urged international efforts.

 

As the treatment is completed, it can be managed by simply finding hepatitis C carriers.

 

The domestic prevalence rate is estimated to be around 1%, and it is considered an important strategy to quickly find and treat patients who can be the source of infection because there is no separate vaccine.

 

Unlike the United States, which conducted a government-led hepatitis C screening test under the WHO's declaration, Korea has been only discussing whether to include hepatitis C tests in national checkups for years.

 

The paradigm of hepatitis C treatment completely changed after the introduction of DAA preparations.

 

With a treatment success rate of nearly 100%, complete recovery can be expected, treatment can be performed regardless of genotype, and the treatment period, which was up to one year, has been greatly reduced to two to three months.

 

Even this year, a re-treatment system has been created that can be used by a small number of patients who have failed to treat due to resistance.

 

The success rate of re-treatment is also close to 100%.

 

It is evaluated that treatment is close to completion among the two factors for eradicating disease, "prevention" and "treatment." The problem is prevention.

 

Hepatitis C does not have a vaccine, so a quick diagnosis is the best.

 

Professor Ahn pointed out that it is meant to treat only patients without prevention.

 

In particular, it is analyzed that Korea has never been tested for hepatitis C and does not even know that it is a carrier.

 

Professor Ahn said, "More than 70% of hepatitis C patients in Korea were asymptomatic patients who did not know that they were hepatitis C, and more than 60% had never been tested for hepatitis C in their lives," and stressed, "There are more recent situations such as drugs and tattoos, so we need to quickly detect and treat the source of infection." In 2020, the United States began recommending screening tests for hepatitis C under the leadership of the CDC.

 

This is a change to keep pace with the WHO's announced goal of eradicating hepatitis C.

 

The United States recommends that all adults undergo at least one hepatitis C screening test.

 

Countries with national examination programs such as Taiwan, Japan, and Egypt included hepatitis C tests in the category.

 

" Hepatitis C is asymptomatic and the patient cannot be recognized as a carrier unless diagnosed through a test.

 

However, these patients may have been in poor condition for a long time, but they feel that their quality of life is improved through treatment.

 

At the national level, medical costs can be lowered by lowering the probability of liver cirrhosis or hepatocellular carcinoma when hepatitis C is completely cured, he explained.

 

In Korea, discussions have also been made since late 2015 to include hepatitis C tests in the national health examination category, but no conclusion has been reached even seven years later.

 

It is not that the utility value that can be included in national projects has not been proven.

 

Although the Korean Association for the study of the Liver has consistently proven cost-effectiveness through feasibility studies and pilot projects, there is still no progress.

 

The Korean Association for the study of the Liver is conducting additional research to analyze the government's financial impact assessment.

 

Professor Ahn said, "The Korean Association for the study of the Liver confirmed the cost-effectiveness of national hepatitis C screening through an early detection pilot project for hepatitis C for 105,000 people aged 55 in 2020.

 

"When comparing the costs of treatment with screening tests and neglecting liver cirrhosis, it was much more effective to conduct screening tests for high-risk groups," he explained.

 

He said, "In addition, research to verify whether the government's financial consumption of national checkups is possible through the government's fiscal impact assessment will be announced within this year as it is almost the final stage."