Following a presentation on Thursday by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) on eliminating hepatitis C in Taiwan, Premier Su Tseng-chang said that the nation has adopted prevention, screening and therapy as the main strategies for realizing the MOHW's Taiwan Hepatitis C Policy Guideline goal to eliminate the disease five years in advance of the World Health Organization's 2030 target.
There are currently around 400,000 hepatitis C cases in Taiwan, with nearly 7,000 new infections per year.
Recently introduced hepatitis C medicines have short treatment courses, good safety records and high success rates, presenting a new opportunity for global prevention, said Premier Su. In response, the government has increased screening, lowered the threshold for treatment, and greatly expanded outlays to cover the cost of new drugs. Funding has grown from NT$3.1 billion (US$101.8 million) in 2017 to NT$6.8 billion (US$219.1 million) this year.
By dramatically lightening the financial burden of therapy, Taiwan aims to rapidly extend the treatment's reach and reduce sources and transmission of the virus. The number of people receiving new drug therapy has already more than quadrupled, from fewer than 10,000 in 2017 to about 42,000 today. As many as 98.5 percent are successfully cured. Whether from the perspective of individual patient well-being and household finances, or even overall public health, national productivity and international standing, the benefits to Taiwan are clear, the premier said.