Hepatitis C Elimination in Rwanda: Progress, Feasibility, Economic Evaluation
2024
This study evaluates the impact of Rwanda's national program launched in 2018 to eliminate hepatitis C virus (HCV) and identifies strategies to achieve World Health Organization (WHO) elimination goals by 2030. Employing a microsimulation model spanning 2015 to 2050, the analysis assesses HCV epidemic trends, prevalence, mortality, and total care costs under various scenarios. Results show that between 2018 and 2022, over 7 million people were screened and 60,000 treated, projecting Rwanda's potential achievement of HCV elimination as early as 2027. Feasible strategies, including an annual screening rate of 15% and 100% treatment rate, could meet WHO goals by 2028, necessitating additional screening of 4 million individuals and treatment of 23,900 patients by 2030. The estimated cost of the elimination program is $25 million for screening and diagnosis and $21 million for treatment from 2015 to 2050. Rwanda's program could prevent hepatocellular carcinoma cases, HCV-related deaths, and save the health system $25.33 million. The study underscores Rwanda's potential as a leader in HCV elimination, offering valuable insights for similar initiatives in low-income settings, suggesting that rapid scale-up of screening and treatment can yield cost-saving benefits.
Hepatitis C Elimination in Rwanda: Progress, Feasibility, Economic Evaluation
Source:
Zhong H, Aaron A, Hiebert L, Serumondo J, Zhuo Y, Adee M, Rwibasira GN, Ward JW, Chhatwal J. Hepatitis C Elimination in Rwanda: Progress, Feasibility, and Economic Evaluation. Value in Health 2024. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2024.03.005
Not open access.