Economic Assessment of an Anti-HCV Screening Program in Italy

Background: The progression of hepatitis C (HCV) is usually developed over a ten-year-period. A high percentage of patients with chronic HCV contracts cirrhosis. The probability of developing liver cancer from chronicHCV over a year is 5%. These complications as well as the highly debilitating effects on patients, represent a significant item of expenditure for the National Health Service (NHS). Within the high risk population, the prevalence of the disease is 9-10% and is characterized, in the Italian scenario, by a high North-South gradient. Early detection of HCV is an excellent opportunity to improve patients’ QOL and to rationalize resource allocation, since the disease is characterized by a long preclinical phase, by the availability of treatments that can improve the prognosis and, moreover, by a high prevalence in the target population. Objectives: The aim of this study is to provide a cost-effectiveness evaluation of an anti-HCV screening program in the Italian NHS perspective.