(J.Weinbach)

• Hepatitis C is comparable to a ‘viral time bomb’. WHO estimates that about 200 million people, 3% of the world’s population, are infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) and 3 to 4 million persons are newly infected each year. Research indicates that HCV is responsible for 50-76% of all liver cancer cases, and two thirds of all liver transplants in the developed world. Despite the risk of developing life-threatening chronic liver diseases, 90% of HCV patients who are in need of treatment against HCV today cannot afford it.
• Hepatitis C is clearly an epidemic disease, likely to be a serious problem in newly independent states of Eastern Europe, and which affects also millions of poor people in developing countries. For instance, 8 countries – Bolivia, Burundi, Cameroon, Egypt, Guinea, Mongolia, Rwanda, and Tanzania – have reported a HCV prevalence above 10% in certain population. 7 countries/areas – Gabon, Libya, Papua New Guinea, Suriname, Vietnam, Zaire, and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East – have reported a HCV prevalence between 5 and 10%.
• Hepatitis C prevalence in Europe is not clearly established. It could be at least 1.03% of the general population, which represents 8.9 million infected people (WHO Region). Patients communities like haemophiliacs, drug addicts or people transfused with blood before 1990 are particularly affected by the disease. Furthermore, the situation has not been assessed in many countries and varies according to the area and population sample. Thus, there is a pressing need to support multicentre studies conducted in larger samples to obtain more accurate and reliable data on the prevalence, mortality and morbidity related to hepatitis C in the European general population.
• Mother-to-child HCV transmission has been widely documented. The risk of perinatal infection ranges from 3-15% in different populations. However, correlates of transmission remain to be defined and targeted studies are urgently needed to provide adequate counseling to HCV infected pregnant women and to identify possible preventive measures. Large multicentre networks have been funded under Framework 5 and work is under way to evaluate the persistence rate and progression of vertically acquired HCV infection. Further funding will be required to maximise the potential of these networks and to evaluate possible therapeutic interventions in children with chronic hepatitis.
• Hepatitis C will lead to a substantial health and economic burden over the next 10 to 20 years. In EU countries, at least half of HCV-infected people are not aware of their infection status. Some models predict that in 2008 there will be an increase of 61 % in cirrhosis, of 279 % in decompensations and of 68 % in hepatocellular cancer. The need for liver transplantation will increase 5fold in the next ten years. This suggests an increase by roughly 40 per cent of the workload for hepatologists. Direct medical expenditures for HCV within the European Union will be over Euro10 billion from the year 2010 through 2019 without specific effort to limit this impact.
• To minimize the health and economic impact of the disease, more efficient, better-tolerated, cost-effective therapies are needed, especially for nonresponders to the current treatments. Up to 60% of all HCV-infected patients do not experience significant long-term benefits from the current interferon-based combination therapy. Clearly, further research in therapy management and in newer approaches to the eradication, control or prevention of HCV infection are necessary.
• A prerequisite to the development of better treatments against HCV is to support a sustained effort in basic science. It is obvious that basic research must be continued, given our poor knowledge in most areas of HCV/chronic hepatitis C. For instance, there is a vital need of an appropriate cell-culture system that would provide a greater understanding of HCV molecular virology and assist in the development of therapeutic agents. From this basic research, we will most certainly gain an insight into the pathogenicity of other viruses.
• Hepatitis C immunology is not yet well understood and there is no vaccine against the virus. Lack of knowledge of any protective immune response following HCV infection impedes both improvement of treatment management and vaccine research. Some studies, however, have shown that virus–neutralizing responses can exist in patients with HCV infection. To optimize therapy management and to give the development of a therapeutic vaccine against HCV its best chance, it is essential to keep on funding large, concerted projects in the immunology field.

        Click here to download the petition text ( send to J.Weinbach)

return