the National Health Service is to use artificial intelligence to detect, test and treat people at risk of hepatitis C as part of plans to eradicate the disease by 2030.
Hepatitis C often has no noticeable symptoms until the liver has been severely damaged, meaning thousands of people are living with the infection, known as the silent killer, without realizing it.
If left untreated, it can cause life-threatening liver damage for years. But with the modern treatments now available, it is possible to cure the infection.
Now health chiefs are launching a high-tech screening program in England in a new push to identify thousands of people who don’t know they have the virus.
The scheme, which will start in the coming weeks, aims to help people living with hepatitis C get a life-saving diagnosis and access to treatment before it’s too late.
The NHS will identify people who may have the virus by using AI to scan health records for a number of key risk factors, such as historical blood transfusions or an HIV diagnosis.
Anyone identified through the new screening process will be invited for a review by their GP and, if appropriate, further evaluation for hepatitis C. Those who test positive for the virus will be offered available treatment. after England’s NHS reached an agreement with three major pharmaceutical companies. .
Professor Graham Foster, National Clinical Chair of England’s NHS Hepatitis C Elimination Programmes, said the plan “marks a significant step forward” in the fight to eliminate the virus by 2030. “It will use new software to identify and evaluate patients with the highest risk of the virus, which could save thousands of lives”, he added.
“Hepatitis C can be a deadly disease affecting tens of thousands of people across the country, but with unlimited access to NHS treatments, innovative patient finding initiatives like this one… we will continue to increase the chances of life for thousands of people. patients contracting the virus even earlier.”
Hepatitis C deaths have been reduced by more than a third in five years. Recent data shows that the number of deaths from the virus has fallen by 35%, from 482 in 2015 to 314 in 2020 in England. New cases have also fallen from 129,000 in 2015 to 81,000 in 2020, according to the UK. Health Security Agency.
Hepatitis C is usually spread through blood-to-blood contact. It can be spread by sharing unsterilized needles, particularly those used to inject recreational drugs.
Actress Pamela Anderson contracted hepatitis C while married to musician Tommy Lee, who had a history of drug abuse, when the pair shared a tattoo needle. Anderson, 55, was cured after taking antivirals.
Experts say the recent drop in deaths is largely due to early detection of the virus coupled with better access to treatments.
Rachel Halford, chief executive of the Hepatitis C Trust, said: “Thanks to the brilliant advances we have seen in the treatment of hepatitis C in recent years, we have a real chance of eliminating the virus as a public health problem in the next few years. years. However, to do so, we need to move forward in finding people living with an undiagnosed infection and refer them to treatment.
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“That is why the announcement of this new screening program is such welcome news. Primary care is where we are most likely to find those who have been living with an undiagnosed infection for many years.
“There has been brilliant work to expand testing in a wide range of settings in recent years, but we have yet to see the advances we need to see in primary care. Therefore, the launch of this screening program is another crucial step in achieving elimination.”
NHS staff are also visiting at-risk communities in specially equipped trucks to test for the virus and carry out liver health checks with portable scanners to check for liver damage.
The health service aims to eliminate the virus in England before the global target of 2030 set by the World Health Organisation.