According to the recent data presented by Central-European HCV experts, the estimated prevalence of HCV is between 0.2% and 1.7% in certain countries in this region. There are no financial limitations to access to treatment in most countries. Patients in these countries have access to at least one pangenotypic regimen. The most common barriers to the elimination of HCV in Central Europe are a lack of established national screening programmes and limited political commitment to the elimination of HCV. Covid-19 has significantly affected the number of patients who have been diagnosed and treated, thus, delaying the potential elimination of HCV. These data suggest that the elimination of HCV elimination projected by WHO before 2030 will not be possible in the Central Europe.

2nd Department of Internal Medicine Louis Pasteur University Hospital and Pavol Jozej Šafárik University Faculty of Medicine Kosice Slovakia

Central Hospital of Southern Pest National Institute of Hematology and Infectious Diseases Budapest Hungary

Department for Viral Hepatitis University Hospital of Infectious Diseases University of Zagreb School of Medicine Zagreb Croatia

Department of Gastroenterology 1st Department of Medicine Somogy County Kaposi Mór Teaching Hospital Kaposvár and University of Pécs Clinical Center Pécs Hungary

Department of Gastroenterology Hepatology and Clinical Nutrition University Hospital Dubrava University of Zagreb School of Medicine Zagreb Croatia

Department of Gastroenterology HPB Surgery and Transplantology Military Medical Academy Sofia Bulgaria

Department of Hepatogastroenterology Institute for Clinical and Experimental Medicine Prague Czech Republic

Department of Infectious Diseases and Hepatology Medical University of Białystok Białystok Poland

Department of Infectious Diseases Jan Kochanowski University Kielce Poland

Institute for Digestive Research and Department of Gastroenterology Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Kaunas Lithuania

Latvian Center of Infectious Diseases Riga East University Hospital Hepatology Department Faculty of Medicine University of Latvia Riga Latvia

See more in PubMed

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HCV Elimination in Central Europe with Particular Emphasis on Microelimination in Prisons