The overwhelming majority of people in the U.S. who have tested positive for hepatitis C have not been cured due to the high cost of oral antiviral treatments and obstacles imposed by insurance plans, federal health officials said on Thursday.
Hepatitis C is often referred to as the silent killer because the initial infection has few to no symptoms. Overtime, however, the virus can cause liver damage, liver cancer, liver failure and ultimately death.
The virus is spread through contact with an infected person's blood, primarily through sharing needles and other equipment used to inject drugs.
Breakthrough oral antiviral treatments made by Gilead Sciences and Abbvie have been on the U.S. market for nearly a decade now. These pills, taken once a day for eight to 12 weeks, cure more than 95% of hepatitis C cases.
Despite the availability of these medications, only one-third of the 1 million adults in the U.S. who tested positive for hepatitis C between 2013 and 2022 have been cured, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published Thursday. Health officials estimate up to another million people in the U.S. are infected but don't know they have the virus.
Hepatitis C contributed to the deaths of nearly 15,000 people in 2020, according to the CDC.
"Thousands of people are dying every year in our country, and many more are suffering from an infection that has been curable for more than 10 years," Dr. Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC division that specializes in HIV and viral hepatitis, told reporters on a call Thursday.
The Biden administration has asked Congress to approve $11 billion in funding for a national program to eliminate hepatitis C by 2030. Dr. Francis Collins, who is leading the initiative at the White House, said the program will save thousands of lives and pay for itself by reducing health care costs.