Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what timetable has been set by his Department for eliminating hepatitis C based on current testing and treatment rates.

Testing and diagnosis of individuals infected with hepatitis C and their subsequent engagement in care and treatment are important aspects of controlling hepatitis C, along with prevention activities and a comprehensive surveillance system. These actions will contribute to the World Health Organization Europe Action Plan for viral hepatitis which is looking for the elimination of viral hepatitis as a public health threat in the European Region by 2030.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence have published guidance on testing for hepatitis C to target at-risk populations. Data from Public Health England’s surveillance of blood born virus (BBV) testing in England and opt-out BBV testing programme in prisons suggest testing rates have remained stable in primary care and improved in pathfinder prisons. However, only around one half of people who inject drugs sampled in United Kingdom surveys were aware of their hepatitis C infection status, and this figure has remained relatively stable at this level over the last five years.

Public Health England supports the Government’s efforts by publishing hepatitis C metrics which are available in the report Hepatitis C in the UK 2016 report: Working towards its elimination as a major public health threat. A copy of the report is attached.