"Introduction of hepatitis C national health screening opens the way for domestic eradication"
Jul 04, 2024
Hepatitis C is a contagious disease that spreads to the blood and can progress to chronic liver diseases such as chronic hepatitis, cirrhosis, and liver cancer when infected with the hepatitis C virus.
In particular, liver cancer is the number one cause of death by cancer type among those in their 40s and 50s who are actively engaged in socioeconomic activities, and hepatitis B and hepatitis C account for 61% and 15% of the causative diseases in Korea.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed national certification standards to achieve hepatitis C eradication (80% reduction in hepatitis C incidence and 65% reduction in mortality compared to 2015) by 2030, but current hepatitis C indicators in Korea show significant differences from eradication goals.
According to the Korean Liver Association "In the case of hepatitis C, most asymptomatic infections (about 70-80%), and there is no vaccine that can prevent infection, but 98% can be cured if oral treatment is administered for 8-12 weeks.", he explained.
Therefore, early detection and treatment of asymptomatic patients can be expected to reduce the burden of severe liver disease and at the same time remove the source of infection to prevent the spread of hepatitis C.
However, until now, hepatitis B screening in Korea has been included and managed in the 40-year-old national health examination, but there is no national screening system for hepatitis C.
In the midst of this, the path to eradicating hepatitis C in Korea has reached a turning point.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Director Ji Young-mi) announced that the introduction of a hepatitis C antibody test to the national health examination was decided at the 2nd National Health Examination Committee (Chairman Ji Young-mi).
According to this decision, people who are 56 years old (born in 1969) from 2025 will be able to take a hepatitis C antibody test when they undergo a national health examination.
It is evaluated as a result of the efforts of the Korean Liver Association (Chairman Kim Yoon-joon of Seoul Medical University) and the Korea Liver Foundation (Chairman Seo Dong-jin).
They have emphasized that the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C virus is a national and national task through many studies and public awareness campaigns.
Recently, the Korean Liver Association conducted a policy research project with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat viral hepatitis. In particular, the basis for the introduction of the hepatitis C national health examination was presented through a study on the feasibility of hepatitis C screening among the national health examination items (2022) and a study on the follow-up management of hepatitis C screening among the national health examination items (2022), a distribution survey by stage of progression (fibrosis) at the time of diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C patients, and a study on the development of a disease burden model (2022).
In addition, through the development of strategies to combat viral hepatitis B and C (2022), the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contributed to establishing the Basic Plan for Management of First Viral hepatitis B and C in 2023 to 2027.
The "Basic Plan for the Management of 1st Viral Hepatitis from 2023 to 2027" announced in March 2023 by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aimed to establish an active preclinical (preventive-diagnostic-treatment) hepatitis management system with the goal of reducing viral hepatitis mortality by 40% by 2027. The project to introduce national hepatitis C screening, which was decided this time, was decided as part of that. In this regard, the Korean Liver Association praised it as "an excellent decision to enable the achievement of the WHO 2030 virus hepatitis eradication certification goal.'
He also welcomed "We expect to find people infected with hepatitis C virus early and lead them to cure, so that they can escape the pain of cirrhosis and liver cancer."
"Hepatitis C is important to detect early, but most of them have no symptoms, so it is easy to overlook treatment," said Kim Yoon-joon, chairman of the Korean Liver Association. "People should start treatment immediately after being diagnosed with hepatitis C to prevent progression to severe liver disease."
Ji Young-mi, Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said "The introduction of the hepatitis C test in this national health examination laid the most important foundation for fighting hepatitis C in Korea."The government will continue to make efforts to strengthen public relations, develop clinical practice guidelines, and conduct screening and treatment projects for high-risk groups to ensure that hepatitis C becomes the fourth eradication infectious disease after measles, rubella, and polio" he said.
Meanwhile, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that the hepatitis C antibody test introduced in the national health examination is a screening test, and even if the test results are positive, it does not mean a 'hepatitis C patient', so a separate confirmation test is needed to confirm whether the patient is currently infected. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also come up with a plan to support the cost of the confirmation test so that the public can easily receive the confirmation test.
In the future, the Korean Liver Association and the Korea Liver Foundation emphasized that they will continue to carry out public relations projects with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to actively express and study expert opinions in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatitis C.
In particular, liver cancer is the number one cause of death by cancer type among those in their 40s and 50s who are actively engaged in socioeconomic activities, and hepatitis B and hepatitis C account for 61% and 15% of the causative diseases in Korea.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed national certification standards to achieve hepatitis C eradication (80% reduction in hepatitis C incidence and 65% reduction in mortality compared to 2015) by 2030, but current hepatitis C indicators in Korea show significant differences from eradication goals.
According to the Korean Liver Association "In the case of hepatitis C, most asymptomatic infections (about 70-80%), and there is no vaccine that can prevent infection, but 98% can be cured if oral treatment is administered for 8-12 weeks.", he explained.
Therefore, early detection and treatment of asymptomatic patients can be expected to reduce the burden of severe liver disease and at the same time remove the source of infection to prevent the spread of hepatitis C.
However, until now, hepatitis B screening in Korea has been included and managed in the 40-year-old national health examination, but there is no national screening system for hepatitis C.
In the midst of this, the path to eradicating hepatitis C in Korea has reached a turning point.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Director Ji Young-mi) announced that the introduction of a hepatitis C antibody test to the national health examination was decided at the 2nd National Health Examination Committee (Chairman Ji Young-mi).
According to this decision, people who are 56 years old (born in 1969) from 2025 will be able to take a hepatitis C antibody test when they undergo a national health examination.
It is evaluated as a result of the efforts of the Korean Liver Association (Chairman Kim Yoon-joon of Seoul Medical University) and the Korea Liver Foundation (Chairman Seo Dong-jin).
They have emphasized that the diagnosis and treatment of hepatitis C virus is a national and national task through many studies and public awareness campaigns.
Recently, the Korean Liver Association conducted a policy research project with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to combat viral hepatitis. In particular, the basis for the introduction of the hepatitis C national health examination was presented through a study on the feasibility of hepatitis C screening among the national health examination items (2022) and a study on the follow-up management of hepatitis C screening among the national health examination items (2022), a distribution survey by stage of progression (fibrosis) at the time of diagnosis of chronic hepatitis C patients, and a study on the development of a disease burden model (2022).
In addition, through the development of strategies to combat viral hepatitis B and C (2022), the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention contributed to establishing the Basic Plan for Management of First Viral hepatitis B and C in 2023 to 2027.
The "Basic Plan for the Management of 1st Viral Hepatitis from 2023 to 2027" announced in March 2023 by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention aimed to establish an active preclinical (preventive-diagnostic-treatment) hepatitis management system with the goal of reducing viral hepatitis mortality by 40% by 2027. The project to introduce national hepatitis C screening, which was decided this time, was decided as part of that. In this regard, the Korean Liver Association praised it as "an excellent decision to enable the achievement of the WHO 2030 virus hepatitis eradication certification goal.'
He also welcomed "We expect to find people infected with hepatitis C virus early and lead them to cure, so that they can escape the pain of cirrhosis and liver cancer."
"Hepatitis C is important to detect early, but most of them have no symptoms, so it is easy to overlook treatment," said Kim Yoon-joon, chairman of the Korean Liver Association. "People should start treatment immediately after being diagnosed with hepatitis C to prevent progression to severe liver disease."
Ji Young-mi, Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said "The introduction of the hepatitis C test in this national health examination laid the most important foundation for fighting hepatitis C in Korea."The government will continue to make efforts to strengthen public relations, develop clinical practice guidelines, and conduct screening and treatment projects for high-risk groups to ensure that hepatitis C becomes the fourth eradication infectious disease after measles, rubella, and polio" he said.
Meanwhile, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasized that the hepatitis C antibody test introduced in the national health examination is a screening test, and even if the test results are positive, it does not mean a 'hepatitis C patient', so a separate confirmation test is needed to confirm whether the patient is currently infected. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will also come up with a plan to support the cost of the confirmation test so that the public can easily receive the confirmation test.
In the future, the Korean Liver Association and the Korea Liver Foundation emphasized that they will continue to carry out public relations projects with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to actively express and study expert opinions in the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of hepatitis C.
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