Eliminating Hepatitis C in Pakistan can be Cost-effective for the National Economy by 2050

Achieving the World Health Organization goal of eliminating hepatitis C virus (HCV) as a public health problem by 2030 in Pakistan is likely to be cost-effective and could deliver US$9.10 billion in savings to the Pakistan national economy by 2050 suggests a new study led by the University of Bristol, UK.

Hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus infecting 71 million people worldwide (about one per cent of the world’s population) and causes 400,000 deaths each year.

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Hepatitis C is a contagious viral disease affecting the liver that is caused by the hepatitis C virus.

‘Investing in hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination can become cost-saving to the economy in 10 years.’

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Pakistan has one of the highest rates of (HCV) infection in the world, accounting for over ten percent of global HCV infections.

The previous study estimated that a direct investment of US$3.87 billion is required for HCV elimination in Pakistan, but did not capture the societal benefits of achieving HCV elimination, such as gains in workforce productivity due to people being free of HCV infection.

Understanding these wider benefits are important for informing decision-making.

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Until very recently, infection with the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) had been very difficult to treat, but new treatments now result in curing the disease in up to 90% of cases.

The new study found that achieving HCV elimination in Pakistan could yield substantial societal health and economic benefits. These benefits include saving 333,000 lives and averting considerable morbidity due to ill health, leading to improvements in health-related quality of life and workforce productivity.

The research findings published in PLOS Medicine, looked beyond the direct investment required to reach HCV elimination by evaluating the productivity and health gains to estimate the potential return-on-investment for eliminating HCV in Pakistan.

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Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver. Hepatitis virus panel is a series of blood tests to diagnose infections caused by hepatitis A, B and C viruses.

They also investigated the costs saved from partially integrating HCV testing services into existing healthcare infrastructure.

Dr. Aaron Lim, Research Fellow in Infectious Disease Mathematical Modelling in the NIHR Health Protection Research Unit in Behavioural Science and Evaluation at the University of Bristol and lead author of the study, said: “Countries may be substantially underestimating both how much HCV is costing their economy and the benefits of elimination.

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Kidneys from donors infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are safe and function equally well compared to uninfected kidneys. Transplant centers should maximize the use of good quality kidneys infected with HCV to help more kidney failure patients.

This study is critical because it provides the evidence needed to support continued investment in HCV elimination as a priority for Pakistan.

Source-Medindia