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Public Health Wales sets out to identify patients with hepatitis C

Public Health Wales (PHW) is striving hard to identify Welsh individuals living with hepatitis C, with the aim of offering them new therapies capable of curing the majority of the cases.

In a new drive, PHW in collaboration with local health boards and general practitioners plans to reach out to individuals previously diagnosed with hepatitis C but have not been successfully treated. They will be offered retesting and newer therapies if they still have a positive infection status. There are an estimated 12,000 individuals in Wales living with hepatitis C, which corresponds to 0.4 per cent of the population, with many who are unaware of their infection status.

The Welsh Government is strongly committed to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) goal of eliminating hepatitis C as a major public health threat by 2030. This necessitates bringing down new cases by 90 per cent and hepatitis C-related mortality by 65 per cent. PHW is urging all individuals who suspect exposure to hepatitis C or belonging to a high-risk group to contact their GP to arrange testing.


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