Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment he has made of the feasibility of effectively eliminating Hepatitis C in the UK in the next 15 to 20 years.

Public Health England (PHE) is committed to working with NHS England and other partners to reduce the burden of disease from hepatitis C through a suite of activities to improve awareness, prevention, testing and diagnosis, referral into care, and treatment outcomes

The feasibility of elimination – that is the reduction to zero of the incidence of disease or infection in England - has not been formally assessed and it is likely to be difficult in the absence of an effective vaccine. However, PHE has recently completed modelling work to assess the potential impact of increased uptake and new therapies on reducing the future burden of hepatitis C-related end stage liver disease in England. This work is being finalised and will be published shortly.