In 2016, the World Health Organization set a global target to eliminate hepatitis C as a public health threat by 2030 — defined as a 90% reduction in new infections and an 80% reduction in hepatitis C mortality. The United States had a credible path to that goal. Direct-acting antiviral (DAA) medications like sofosbuvir-velpatasvir (Epclusa) and glecaprevir-pibrentasvir (Mavyret) cure hepatitis C in more than 95% of treated patients with an 8-to-12-week oral regimen, at costs that have declined dramatically from the original $84,000 treatment prices.
The CDC's National Hepatitis C Elimination Plan, launched formally in 2023, had deployed testing expansion, harm reduction integration, and medication access programs in the highest-burden communities. In California — home to the nation's largest hepatitis C burden, concentrated in Los Angeles and San Francisco — the progress was measurable.
