Hepatitis C microelimination among people living with HIV in Taiwan

To reach the WHO target of hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination by 2025, Taiwan started to implement free-of-charge direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment programme in 2017. Evaluating the progress of HCV microelimination among people living with HIV (PLWH) is a critical step to identify the barriers to HCV elimination. PLWH seeking care at a major hospital designated for HIV care in Taiwan between January 2011 and December 2021 were retrospectively included. For PLWH with HCV-seropositive or HCV seroconversion during the study period, serial HCV RNA testing was performed using archived samples to confirm the presence of HCV viremia and estimate the prevalence and incidence of HCV viremia. Overall, 4199 PLWH contributed to a total of 27,258.75 person-years of follow-up (PYFU). With the reimbursement of DAAs and improvement of access to treatments, the prevalence of HCV viremia has declined from its peak of 6.21% (95% CI, 5.39-7.12%) in 2018 to 2.09% (95% CI, 1.60-2.77%) in 2021 (decline by 66.4% [95% CI, 55.4-74.7%]); the incidence has declined from 25.94 per 1000 PYFU (95% CI, 20.44-32.47) in 2019 to 12.15% per 1000 PYFU (95% CI, 8.14-17.44) (decline by 53.2% [95% CI, 27.3-70.6%]). However, the proportion of HCV reinfections continued to increase and accounted for 82.8% of incident HCV infections in 2021. We observed significant declines of HCV viremia among PLWH with the expansion of the DAA treatment programme in Taiwan. Further improvement of the access to DAA retreatments is warranted to achieve the goal of HCV microelimination.

Automated summary

To achieve the WHO goal of HCV elimination, Taiwan implemented a free direct-acting antiviral treatment program. The study found significant declines in the prevalence and incidence of HCV viremia among PLWH with the expansion of the DAA treatment program, but the proportion of HCV reinfections continued to increase.