OPTIMISTIC:
Based on the experience of controlling hepatitis B, the government is confident of being awarded gold-tier certification in hepatitis C elimination
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By Lin Chih-yi and Esme Yeh /
Staff reporter, with staff writer
The screening and treatment of hepatitis C infection is to be stepped up for prisoners, drug users and people with comorbid chronic diseases to meet the government’s goal of eliminating the virus by next year, Minister of Health and Welfare Chiu Tai-yuan (邱泰源) said yesterday.
The government has set the goal of eliminating the virus by next year, five years sooner than the WHO’s target deadline of 2030.
It launched a universal hepatitis B vaccination program in 1984, with each newborn inoculated against the virus starting in 1986, Chiu said.
Photo: Lin Chih-yi, Taipei Times
Based on the successful experience of controlling hepatitis B, the government is confident of being awarded gold-tier certification in hepatitis C elimination, he said.
The government would “go the last mile” by enhancing the screening and treatment of hepatitis C infection for prisoners, drug users and patients with comorbid chronic diseases to boost underperforming indicators, he added.
Health Promotion Administration Director-General Wu Chao-chun (吳昭軍) said that the nation has made remarkable progress toward both the program and impact targets set by the WHO for hepatitis C elimination.
As of June, hepatitis C patients in Taiwan had a diagnostic rate of 90.6 percent and a cure rate of more than 95 percent, with standards reached in terms of blood transfusion safety and injection safety, Wu said.
The number of sterile and safe needles and syringes used by drug users averaged 292 per person per year, which was better than the goal of 300 set by the WHO and promising in earning gold-tier certification next year, he said.
Hepatitis C patients with comorbid chronic diseases such as diabetes or renal disease have come into focus, as they can enjoy better efficacy of chronic disease therapies if their hepatitis C is properly treated, he added.
As hepatitis C reinfections are not uncommon among drug addicts and prisoners, they are not subject to the restriction of only one state-reimbursed hepatitis C screening and would be monitored long term, Wu said.
Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital gastroenterology division attending physician Chien Rong-nan (簡榮南) said informed consent from the patient is required prior to hepatitis C screening out of respect for human rights.
However, most drug users do not like to have blood tests, which leads to hepatitis C diagnostic rates as low as 40 to 50 percent in prisons, Chien said.
The Health Promotion Administration has introduced an at-home rapid test approach for hepatitis C — similar to blood glucose tests — to promote screenings in prisons, Chien added.
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