Hepatitis C

Baroness Randerson Excerpts

Monday 9th July 2018 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Randerson]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what plans, if any, they have to publish a strategy for the elimination of hepatitis C.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Care (Lord O’Shaughnessy)]

My Lords, the Government are committed to meeting the World Health Organization’s target of eliminating hepatitis C as a major public health threat. While there are currently no plans to publish a strategy, my department is working closely with NHS England and Public Health England to deliver a highly ambitious, whole-system approach that would achieve elimination in 2025—five years ahead of the WHO target.

[Baroness Randerson (LD)]

I thank the Minister for his positive approach. I declare an interest as co-chair of the All-Party Group on Liver Health. In our recent inquiry, we demonstrated that hepatitis C specialists do not believe that the NHS is geared up to achieve the Government’s ambition, which the Minister has just outlined. Some 40% to 50% of those with hepatitis C remain undiagnosed. Do the Government intend to introduce a national campaign to raise public awareness of hepatitis C, thus encouraging more people to seek treatment?

[Lord O'Shaughnessy]

First, I applaud the noble Baroness for her work on this. We know that hepatitis C is a truly horrible disease that affects some of the most vulnerable people in our society, which is why we want to eliminate it. In terms of the NHS being geared up, we are on track to treat 70,000 people by 2020. We need to keep finding people, and, of course, they become harder and harder to find. She is quite right about the need to raise awareness. We are doing other things as well, such as reaching into hard-to-reach communities. To give one example, there is now a 100% opt-out testing offer for people entering the prison estate, which is one of the areas where hepatitis C tends to be transmitted. There is clearly a need to do more, but we are looking at how to reach those hard-to-reach communities.