Tag: Hepatitis C treatment

Busting common myths about hepatitis C treatment in Canada

Highly effective medications that can cure hepatitis C infection, called direct-acting antivirals (DAAs), have been approved for use in Canada for people over the age of 18 since 2014. These medications are well-tolerated, nearly 100% effective, and have treatment durations of just eight or 12 weeks. DAAs have simplified hepatitis C treatment considerably, allowing treatments to be prescribed by primary care providers, such as nurse practitioners and family doctors. Now that the treatment itself is so simple, getting coverage for reimbursement of DAAs is the most complicated and challenging aspect of treating hepatitis C infection in Canada. Almost 90% of...

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Treating hepatitis C in children: How does it work?

Did you know that hepatitis C is a liver infection that can be cured within eight to 12 weeks thanks to treatments that are nearly 100% effective? Called direct-acting antivirals, these treatments were first designed for people over the age of 18, but treatment options for people under the age of 18 have also been developed in recent years. This includes a treatment approved in Canada for children aged three years and older, which is a game changer in the pediatric context. Romane Close, CATIE’s specialist for resource development and knowledge mobilization, had the chance to speak with Dr. Fernando Alvarez,...

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New Canadian hepatitis C estimates tell us how far we’ve come (and how far we have to go)

Canada has joined countries around the world in committing to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health threat by 2030. However, how do we know if we’re on track to reach that goal and how do we measure our progress along the way?   Fortunately, the World Health Organization established targets in its Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis, which have been adapted to the Canadian context by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC). These targets lay out a path to elimination with concrete objectives, that include a 90% reduction in new hepatitis C infections by 2030, as...

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Holding governments accountable: Canada’s progress on viral hepatitis elimination

In May 2021, Action Hepatitis Canada (AHC) released its Progress Toward Viral Hepatitis Elimination in Canada 2021 Report. Five years earlier, in May 2016, Canada had signed on to the World Health Organization’s (WHO) first-ever Global Viral Hepatitis Strategy with the goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. With both a cure for hepatitis C (HCV) and a vaccine for hepatitis B (HBV), this seemed to be a very realistic goal within a reasonable timeframe. But five years on, we had important questions about how Canada was really doing as time was ticking on.

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Understanding prescribing trends for hepatitis C treatment in Ontario

The introduction and wide availability of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) as a treatment for hepatitis C through a phased rollout from 2015 to 2018 held the promise of expanded access to treatment. These simpler treatments carried fewer clinical restrictions and required less specialist support, opening the possibility for primary care providers to treat their patients with hepatitis C. Given barriers to healthcare access for people who use drugs, those of us at the Toronto Community Hep C Program were curious to find out if this had in fact happened.

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