NHS bosses have revealed a world leading deal which they claim will find and cure thousands more people with hepatitis C, and help England become the first country to eliminate the deadly virus.
Over the last few years, more than 30,000 people have benefited from new drugs which cure hepatitis C being made available on the NHS.
NHS chiefs say the death rate from hepatitis C-related liver diseases has fallen by more than 16% between 2015 and 2017.
The NHS is also seeing cost savings from a fall in liver transplants for patients with hepatitis C, with a reduction of almost 40% in 2017 compared to 2015.
Now, NHS England will work together with three drug companies to proactively identify and treat others who may be unaware they have hepatitis C, including homeless people and those with mental health problems.
Simon Stevens, chief executive of NHS England, said: “It’s not often that the opportunity arises to completely eradicate a disease, but now the NHS is taking practical action to achieve exactly that.
“The NHS’s sophisticated and unashamedly rigorous negotiation on behalf of both patients and taxpayers means we’ve now been able to strike affordable deals with our life sciences partners to save many more lives and meaningfully cut health inequalities.”
Hepatitis C is a virus that can infect the liver and, if left untreated, cause serious and potentially life-threatening damage over many years. The virus is usually spread through blood-to-blood contact.
It is estimated that 113,000 people in England are living with chronic hepatitis C.
Many people with hepatitis C will be living without a diagnosis, due to the infection often having no specific symptoms until the liver has been significantly damaged. When symptoms do occur, they can often be mistaken for other conditions.
This deal aims to provide services to isolated and hard-to-reach communities including the homeless, those living with mental health illnesses and other high risk groups.
As well as providing all five new hepatitis C drugs at the best price for the NHS and taxpayers, the three drug companies will also launch initiatives – working with local health services, councils and voluntary groups – which will find potential patients, test for infection and provide treatment to those who need it.
Experts have predicted that this combined approach could lead to the elimination of hepatitis C as a public health concern in England over the course of the so-called NHS Long Term Plan.
Rachel Halford, chief executive of The Hepatitis C Trust, said: “The Hepatitis C Trust is delighted with this development. Some 69% of people who have the virus are currently undiagnosed so the funding in the deal to help find those with hepatitis C and support them into treatment is groundbreaking.
“We believe this deal offers a unique opportunity for all stakeholders – patient organisations, pharmaceutical companies, clinicians, prison healthcare and drug misuse services – to work together to reach all those affected.
“By making sure we reach the most marginalised and hardest to engage we will ensure that no one is left behind and stop unnecessary deaths.”
The new deal will see the NHS work together with Gilead Sciences, Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD) and AbbVie, towards a shared goal of eliminating hepatitis C as a major public health issue in England, ahead of the World Health Organisation goal of 2030.
However, campaigners fighting for truth and justice into the contaminated blood scandal – which saw thousands of people infected with viruses including hepatitis C and HIV through blood products given by the NHS – are cynical when it comes to the NHS revelation, particularly its timing.
Today will see the resumption of the infected blood public inquiry with hearings initially taking place in London before moving to Leeds, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff.
Su Gorman from campaign group Tainted Blood, whose husband Steve Dymond, a haemophiliac, died just before Christmas after being given infected blood products by the NHS, told HuffPost UK: “This is too little, too late and it seems they waited until it was forced out of them by the fear of what would emerge from the public inquiry.
“The question that needs to be asked is why have we waited such a long time for this sort of action – and why this sudden dash to announce it just as the inquiry re-opens?
“It is quite clear what they are doing – do they think we are stupid?
“While it is welcome that more people will be diagnosed and treated for hepatitis C, this does not mitigate the suffering of thousands of people infected by NHS treatment, and certainly not for those bereaved or those who lost their lives to this scandal.
“By making this announcement today, they are trying to take attention away from the scandal and confuse the public with the different ways that hepatitis C can be transmitted.”