Eliminating Hepatitis C in the United States

More than 2 million individuals in the US are chronically infected with hepatitis C, and nearly 15 000 die every year. Antivirals are available but are not reaching the majority of infected individuals. In this Q&A, JAMA Editor in Chief Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, PhD, MD, MAS, and Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, discuss a plan to eliminate hepatitis C included in the Biden-Harris 2024 budget proposal. Read the related JAMA viewpoint at https://ja.ma/3LaeGLo and visit http://jamanetworkvideo.com for more content like this. Topics discussed in this interview: 00:00 Introduction 01:36 Why hepatitis C? 02:57 Why haven't we done this already? 05:20 People are unaware they're infected 06:27 Does insurance cover hep C cure? 09:23 Cost-savings of eliminating hep C 11:30 Need for better point-of-care testing 13:40 Access to drugs to cure hep C 16:03 Health care delivery 16:51 Preventing infections and vaccines 17:46 Summary of key points 19:37 Coming to the table to get this done 23:47 Role of primary care providers --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For more from JAMA • https://www.jama.com •   / jamajournal   •   / jama_current   •   / jama.  . Follow the JAMA Network • https://www.jamanetwork.com • http://www.jamanetworkaudio.com •   / jamanetwork   •   / jamanetwork   •   / jamanetwork   •   / jamanetwork