Only this week the UK Health Security Agency updated its Hepatitis C in England 2023 report. Until 10 years ago the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) had been a growing cause of death from liver disease, associated very often with intravenous drug use. Unfortunately this is yet another case of morbidity and mortality being allowed to grow under New Labour.
The UK is working to eliminate HCV by reducing chronic prevalence, rolling out testing and lowering of mortality associated with HCV infection. In the seven years from 2015 to 2022, the number of people living with chronic HCV infection in England has dropped by 51.6% and is now estimated at 62,600. So HCV infections have more than halved in just 7 years.
This is largely due to improved testing and access to treatment with comparatively new drugs called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs). This improved testing and treatment has reduced HCV-related mortality to 0.44 per 100,000 population. This is the lowest mortality rate for 10 years.
This is my 10th and final, for now, NHS wins you never heard of.
Phil Taylor 