A promising Hep C program seems to be working — and it could be a model for other countries

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Close to 8% of the Georgian population is living with hepatitis C, an infection that can lead to serious liver problems, including cancer.

Georgia, a country nestled against the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia with a population of 3.7 million, has since taken on a public health effort to help reduce its prevalence of hepatitis C (HCV for short) by 90% by 2020.

To make it happen, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working with Georgia’s government and Gilead Sciences, a company that makes hepatitis C treatment, to get its pills to the right people.

As part of the program, Gilead supplied Harvoni, a hepatitis C cure, to Georgia for free (in the US, a course of treatment could cost as much as $1,100 a pill). Harvoni, which contains ledipasvir and sofosbuvir, was originally approved in 2014, shortly after sofosbuvir (Sovaldi) on its own was approved in December 2013.