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France will provide access to hepatitis C treatment with direct-acting antivirals to everyone diagnosed with hepatitis C from September 2016, and will begin to provide treatment to everyone with stage 2 fibrosis immediately, health minister Marisol Touraine announced last week.
Treatment will also be made available immediately for anyone with hepatitis C waiting for a liver transplant or experiencing a recurrence of hepatitis C infection after a liver transplant, regardless of the stage of post-transplant fibrosis.
Immediate access to hepatitis C treatment will also be granted to groups at high risk of transmitting hepatitis C: prisoners, migrants, pregnant women and people who inject drugs. The French Society for Hepatology has criticised the lack of immediate access for people who acquired hepatitis C through transfusion or contaminated blood products prior to the introduction of screening in 1992.
Until now, treatment for hepatitis C using direct-acting antivirals has been restricted to people with stages F3 (advanced liver damage) or F4 fibrosis (cirrhosis). Approximately 30,000 people in France have received treatment with interferon-free combinations, of whom around 90% have been cured of hepatitis C.
Guidance on how to provide treatment for people with stages F0 and F1 fibrosis will be drawn up by the French national authority for health (Haute Autorité de Santé, or HAS) by September 2016.
Up to 230,000 people in France with hepatitis C could be treated for hepatitis C under the new rules.
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