Edna Strauss. Arq Gastroenterol. 2018;55(4):321-3.
Globally, about 80 million people are living with the hepatitis C virus (HCV). In 2016, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted the Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis to eliminate hepatitis by 2030. This commitment was proposed in response to the growing prevalence of chronic viral hepatitis worldwide. The burden of the disease includes direct medical expenses for its hepatic and extrahepatic manifestations, as well as indirect costs related to impaired quality of life and loss of work productivity. In Brazil, the Public Health Care System has been providing antiviral treatment for chronic hepatitis C for more than a decade with pegylated interferon and ribavirin. This now-outdated treatment, besides high costs, low efficacy, and prolonged duration, could not be administered in several clinical conditions, such as advanced cirrhosis (Child B and C), patients on the liver transplant waiting list (MELD>15), or after any type of organ transplantation.
