Hepatitis C Treatment and Barriers to Eradication.

Abstract

Current treatment for chronic hepatitis C (CHC) is highly efficacious, well-tolerated, and of short duration for the majority of patients. Despite the dramatic advances in therapy, there remain several barriers to disease eradication. These include deficiencies in screening, diagnosis, and access to care, and high cost of the direct-acting antiviral medications. In addition, incident cases and reinfection associated with injection drug use contribute to the persistent worldwide disease burden. This article will review the current CHC treatments, and outline the remaining gaps in therapy and barriers to disease eradication.