Overview of the global hepatitis C epidemic and response

The global burden of HCV remains high. WHO estimates that 71 (62–79) million people worldwide were living with chronic HCV infection and 1.75 (1.57–2.12) million people were newly infected with hepatitis C virus in 2015. This resulted in at least 400 000 deaths each year, primarily due to liver cancer and cirrhosis caused by untreated HCV infections (1). HCV is prevalent worldwide. Low- and middle-income countries account for about 75% of people living with HCV. As shown in Table 1, the WHO Eastern Mediterranean Region and the WHO European Region have the highest estimated prevalence of HCV. There are large variations across countries. Four countries – China, Egypt, India and Pakistan – account for almost 40% of people living with HCV worldwide (1). Unsafe health-care practices and injection drug use are among the leading modes of transmission of HCV