Systematic review: economic evaluations of HCV screening in the direct-acting antivirals era.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization estimated that 90% of the infected people need to be diagnosed and 80% need to be treated to reach the aim of hepatitis C virus (HCV) elimination by 2030. For this reason, all possible strategies to detect and treat HCV-infected people need to be carefully evaluated to implement the best one.

AIM: To review and synthesise the economic evaluations of HCV screening programs conducted in the era of direct-acting antiviral agents regimens.

METHODS: A systematic literature review was conducted until April 2018 to provide information on the costs and effectiveness of HCV screenings in direct-acting antiviral agents era. A critical assessment of the quality of economic evaluations retrieved was conducted.

RESULTS: The literature search identified 716 references; 17 of them assessed cost and effectiveness of screening programs and antiviral treatments in different populations: general population (n = 7), drug users (n = 5), high-risk populations (n = 4) and other populations (n = 3). The HCV screening and direct-acting antiviral agents treatment appear to be good value for money, both in general and high-risk populations, if a cost per quality adjusted life years of $50 000 is set as willingness to pay threshold. Some studies showed the value of including lower stage of fibrosis in the treatment selection criteria.

CONCLUSIONS: Several HCV screening strategies plus direct-acting antiviral agents treatments resulted cost-effectiveness in different populations. However, there is still need of country and population-specific evaluations within the different HCV screening and treatment strategies available, in order to assess their cost-effectiveness and sustainability and fully support an evidence-informed policy for HCV elimination.