Taiwan's approach to hepatitis C elimination, built around an integrated screening-to-cure cascade, is emerging as a practical model for meeting the World Health Organization's goal of eliminating viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030. The strategy connects widespread testing directly to treatment, closing the gap that has long kept diagnosis and cure separate in many health systems.
Chronic hepatitis C virus infection remains one of the leading causes of cirrhosis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and liver-related mortality, affecting an estimated 50 million people worldwide. Because the disease can progress silently for years before symptoms appear, late diagnosis is a major driver of severe liver disease and death. The WHO's 2030 target has given health authorities a clear deadline, but reaching it requires that people who are infected not only be identified but also moved swiftly into care.
Taiwan's model addresses that challenge by treating screening and cure as a single continuous process rather than separate stages. Testing is linked to follow-up and treatment so that a positive result leads directly to the next step, reducing the drop-off that occurs when patients must navigate multiple appointments or referrals. This integrated design is central to why HCV elimination is now described as an achievable public health goal rather than a distant aspiration.
The stakes are high. Hepatitis C is a bloodborne virus that, when it becomes chronic, can quietly damage the liver over decades. Cirrhosis and liver cancer are among its most serious outcomes, and liver-related mortality remains a significant burden in countries where the infection is common. The availability of effective direct-acting antiviral treatments has transformed the outlook, making cure possible for the vast majority of people who receive them. The remaining obstacle is largely operational: finding those who are infected and ensuring they complete treatment.
Taiwan's experience suggests that a well-organized cascade can overcome that obstacle. By embedding screening in accessible settings and linking it to treatment pathways, health authorities can reach populations that might otherwise be missed. The approach also supports the broader public health logic behind the WHO target: reducing transmission, preventing new infections, and lowering the long-term costs associated with advanced liver disease.
For other countries working toward the 2030 goal, the key lesson is that elimination depends less on new technology than on delivery. A screening-to-cure cascade requires coordination across testing sites, laboratories, clinics, and treatment providers, along with sustained funding and public health commitment. Taiwan's path illustrates how those elements can be assembled into a system that moves patients from diagnosis to cure without unnecessary delay.
With an estimated 50 million people living with chronic HCV worldwide, the global target remains ambitious. But the evidence from integrated programs indicates that the tools and the strategy are already in place. What is needed now is the political and logistical will to apply them at scale, turning a feasible public health goal into measurable progress against one of the world's leading causes of liver disease.
13
