Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, with reference to page 10 of Public Health England's report entitled Hepatitis C in the UK 2016 report; Working towards its elimination as a major public health threat, published in July 2016, whether the Government is on course to eliminate hepatitis C in the UK by 2030.

The World Health Organization (WHO) Global Health Sector Strategy (GHSS) proposes milestones and targets to achieve the aim of eliminating viral hepatitis as a major public health threat by 2030. For hepatitis C (HCV), the strategy outlines two main targets for monitoring impact: reducing new cases of chronic hepatitis C infection by 80% by 2030, and reducing deaths from hepatitis C by 65% by 2030.

Progress towards achieving these goals is summarised in Public Health England’s “Hepatitis C in the UK 2016 report - Working towards its elimination as a major public health threat.” The report is available via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/565459/Hepatitis_C_in_the_UK_2016_report.pdf

With preliminary data suggesting an 11% fall in deaths from HCV-related end-stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma in the United Kingdom in 2015, the report concludes that, with the increasing availability of new direct acting antiviral drugs, the UK is well-placed to meet WHO GHSS goals to reduce hepatitis C-related morbidity and mortality.