Globally, 71 million people have chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, of whom 2.4 million live in the United States (US). 1,2 Untreated HCV infection results in cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and increased mortality. 3 HCV also causes significant extra-hepatic morbidity including vascular, cardiometabolic and renal disease. 4 The advent of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) in 2011 revolutionized HCV therapy. Boasting HCV cure rates exceeding 95%, DAAs have replaced interferon-based therapy as standard of care for HCV. 5 In addition to their superior efficacy, DAAs have proven to be safe, simple to administer as oral tablets, of short duration (8-12 weeks) and well-tolerated compared with interferon-based regimens. 6 With the paradigm shift in treatment, there has been renewed action to reduce the global burden of HCV. In 2016, the World Health Assembly adopted the Global Health Sector Strategy on viral hepatitis to eliminate the disease by 2030. 7 To accomplish this, the World Health Organization (WHO) aims to close the diagnostic and treatment gap by diagnosing 90% of people with HCV and treating 80% of people diagnosed. 1 In 2018, the WHO began recommending treating all persons with chronic HCV infection over the age of 12 with pan-genotypic DAAs, regardless of disease stage. 1
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.