Importance of New Hepatitis C Treatments

Monique Foster, MD, MPH, EIS officer, Division of Viral Hepatitis, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discusses the importance of new medications to treat hepatitis C.

Interview Transcript (slightly modified for readability)

“Hepatitis C, I know it’s [been] talked about a lot recently with the new direct-acting antivirals, and people see the commercials on TV that [new treatments are] very effective, very tolerable, and easy comparatively to the treatments [that were available] in the past.

Medications are available to treat this disease. We all just need to work together with the clinicians, healthcare providers, public health policy [makers], to get those treatments to the people who need them so we can combat this virus, which is a killer of a lot of people here in the US.

The mortality [rate] for the hepatitis C virus, most people are surprised to find out, is higher than most infectious diseases combined, [in the United States]. It’s getting more press now and people are talking about it and that’s good because it brings about awareness and it gets those people into treatments. I think that we can only continue the trend that we’re on now.”