Hepatitis C Statistics in UK 2026 | Cases, Treatment, Deaths & Key Facts

Hepatitis C Statistics in the UK 2026

Hepatitis C Statistics in the UK point to a genuine public health success story unfolding in real time, with England now on track to become one of the first countries in the world to eliminate the virus as a public health threat. According to NHS England figures released on August 11, 2026, more than 100,000 people have accessed potentially life-saving hepatitis C treatment in the last decade, and England has already exceeded the World Health Organization’s benchmark of treating 80% of all known cases, with deaths from the virus falling 36% over the past ten years. The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) reports that the number of people living with chronic hepatitis C infection has more than halved since 2015.

The progress reflects a combination of a landmark 2019 pharmaceutical deal, expanded emergency department testing, and a dedicated home-testing portal that together have reshaped England’s response to a virus once considered a lifelong, largely untreatable condition. This report breaks down the latest verified Hepatitis C Statistics — covering case numbers, treatment milestones, mortality trends, and the remaining gaps standing between England and full elimination — using data from NHS England, UKHSA, and the British Liver Trust.

Interesting Facts About Hepatitis C Statistics in the UK 2026

Data Source: NHS England, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), British Liver Trust

The headline figure — over 100,000 people treated since 2015 — represents one of the most significant infectious disease turnarounds in recent NHS history, especially given that hepatitis C was, until relatively recently, a chronic condition many patients lived with for decades without effective treatment. Professor Frankie Swords, NHS national medical director, has called England’s position “leading the world in the mission to eliminate this disease,” a claim backed by hard numbers: England has already surpassed the WHO’s 80% treatment benchmark, one of the two core targets nations must hit to demonstrate elimination progress.

The scale of the underlying prevalence decline is equally striking. The number of adults in England living with chronic hepatitis C fell from an estimated 129,400 in 2015 to just 55,900 by 2023, a reduction of 56.7% achieved primarily through expanded testing and the rollout of curative direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatments. That said, the second WHO target — a 65% reduction in hepatitis C-related mortality compared with 2015 levels — has not yet been met; the current 36% decline falls short of that threshold, meaning meaningful work remains before England can formally claim full elimination status.

Chronic Hepatitis C Prevalence Statistics in UK 2026

Data Source: UKHSA Hepatitis C in England 2024 Report, UKHSA Data Dashboard

Adults Living with Chronic Hepatitis C in England (Thousands)
2015  |########################################| 129.4
2022  |####################                    |  62.6
2023  |##################                      |  55.9

The prevalence data tells the clearest story of England’s progress toward hepatitis C elimination: the population of adults living with chronic infection has fallen by more than half in under a decade, from 129,400 in 2015 to 55,900 by the end of 2023. This decline has not been uniform across risk groups — among people who inject drugs (PWID), historically the population with the highest hepatitis C burden, chronic prevalence now sits at 7.2%, and the proportion of PWID who have cleared a previous infection has nearly doubled since 2015, primarily through intensive testing and treatment delivered within community drug services rather than traditional hospital-based liver clinics.

Despite this progress, UKHSA’s own reporting flags an important caveat: over one-third of PWID living with chronic hepatitis C were potentially unaware of their status as of the most recent surveillance period, meaning continued case-finding remains essential even as overall prevalence falls. Harm reduction infrastructure — including needle and syringe provision, which 66.1% of PWID report as adequate — continues to play a supporting role alongside direct treatment access, since preventing new infections is just as important as curing existing ones for England to sustain its downward prevalence trajectory toward the WHO’s 2030 target.

Hepatitis C Treatment and NHS Programme Statistics in UK 2026

Data Source: NHS England (August 11, 2026 press release), NHS England Hepatitis C Elimination Programme

NHS Hepatitis C Treatment Milestones (2015-2026)
2019: Landmark drug pricing deal signed
2022: A&E opt-out testing programme launched
2026: 100,000+ people treated milestone reached

The engine behind England’s hepatitis C progress has been a 2019 landmark deal struck between NHS England and pharmaceutical companies Gilead Sciences, MSD, and AbbVie, which brought cutting-edge curative treatments to patients “at a huge scale,” according to NHS England’s own account. The resulting treatment regimen — a course of daily antiviral tablets lasting just 8 to 12 weeks — now cures more than 95% of cases, a dramatic departure from older interferon-based treatments that were far less effective and caused significant side effects. As one patient treated through the programme, 65-year-old Paul Eatwell from Blackburn, put it: “Treatment today isn’t life-changing in the way people might imagine. It’s no longer chemotherapy or lengthy hospital treatment – it’s one tablet a day for 12 weeks and a few blood tests.”

Case-finding innovation has been just as important as the treatment itself. The opt-out testing programme in Accident & Emergency departments, which offers hepatitis C screening to patients already having a blood test for unrelated reasons, has identified 1,900 previously undiagnosed cases since 2022 alone — patients who might otherwise have gone undetected until liver damage was already advanced. The complementary free home-testing portal at hepctest.nhs.uk has run for over three years, specifically designed to reach people not already in contact with drug and alcohol services, sexual health clinics, or emergency care, including individuals who may be reluctant to disclose risk history such as exposure through the contaminated blood scandal. Readers interested in how the UK’s separate hepatitis B vaccination programme compares in coverage and elimination progress can see our Hepatitis B Vaccine Statistics in US report for a US-side benchmark on bloodborne virus prevention strategy.

Hepatitis C High-Risk Population Statistics in UK 2026

Data Source: NHS England, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)

Key At-Risk Groups Targeted for Hepatitis C Testing in 2026
People who inject drugs (current/former)    |########################|
Eastern European-born adults (pre-1991)     |##################      |
Pre-1996 blood transfusion recipients       |##############          |
Tattoos received abroad                     |##########              |

NHS England’s targeted outreach strategy reflects a clear understanding that hepatitis C in the UK is now concentrated in specific, identifiable populations rather than spread evenly across the general public. Adults born in Ukraine, Romania, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Albania, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Czechia, or Slovakia are being specifically urged to order free home-testing kits, since many in this group could have been exposed through medical or dental procedures carried out before 1991, when modern sterilisation standards were introduced across much of Eastern Europe. This represents one of the more targeted, evidence-based public health messaging campaigns run by the NHS in recent years, moving well beyond generic “get tested” messaging toward specific, demographically informed risk communication.

The programme also continues to serve people affected by the contaminated blood scandal, one of the most serious treatment disasters in NHS history, through a standing question asked of all new GP registrants about whether they had a blood transfusion before 1996 — the year comprehensive screening of the blood supply began. Combined with continued focus on people who inject drugs, who UKHSA data shows still carry a 7.2% chronic infection rate, and those who received tattoos abroad in settings with variable sterilisation standards, this multi-pronged targeting approach is central to closing the remaining gap between England’s current position and full elimination.

Hepatitis C Mortality and Liver Disease Outcome Statistics in UK 2026

Data Source: UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), NHS England

Hepatitis C Death Rate in England, per 100,000 Population
2015  |########################################| 0.69
2022  |############################            | 0.44
2023  |##########################              | 0.41

England’s 36% reduction in hepatitis C-related deaths since 2015 represents genuine, measurable progress, with the death rate falling from 0.69 per 100,000 population in 2015 to 0.41 per 100,000 in 2023 — the lowest level recorded in a decade, according to UKHSA. This decline directly tracks the scale-up of curative antiviral treatment, since a virus that once progressed silently toward cirrhosis, liver failure, and liver cancer over 20 to 30 years now rarely reaches those endpoints when caught and treated early. NHS England projects that sustained treatment access will cut the number of people needing liver transplants due to hepatitis C by 80% over the next decade, a downstream benefit that will meaningfully reduce pressure on the NHS’s already stretched transplant waiting lists.

Still, England has not yet met the second of the WHO’s two core elimination benchmarks: a 65% reduction in hepatitis C-related mortality compared with 2015 levels. The current 36% reduction, while substantial, leaves meaningful ground to cover before the 2030 target, and UKHSA officials have been candid that continued investment in testing and treatment access — rather than a victory lap — is what the next several years require. Dr Sema Mandal, UKHSA’s deputy director for blood safety, hepatitis, STIs and HIV, summed up the position: “while the number of people living with the virus continues to decline, it remains vital that those most at risk are offered testing, can access life-saving treatments, and receive the support needed… to prevent new infections.” For context on how hepatitis C compares with other bloodborne and vector-related public health threats currently being tracked in the UK, readers may find our broader disease-surveillance coverage useful alongside this report.

Hepatitis C Elimination Progress vs WHO Targets Statistics in UK 2026

Data Source: UKHSA Hepatitis C Data Dashboard, WHO Global Health Sector Strategy targets

England's Progress Against Core WHO Hepatitis C Elimination Targets
Treatment Coverage (80% target)     |########################| Exceeded
Mortality Reduction (65% target)    |##################      | 36% achieved
OAT Coverage (40% target)           |#####################   | 58.1% achieved

Measured against the WHO’s full elimination scorecard, England’s position is genuinely mixed but trending strongly positive. The country has already exceeded the 80% treatment coverage target, achieved 100% screening of blood donations, and surpassed the 40% opioid agonist therapy target among people who inject drugs, with 58.1% currently receiving OAT. Needle and syringe provision, at 66.1% reporting adequate access, sits comfortably above the WHO’s programmatic minimums as well. The clear outstanding gap is the mortality reduction target, where England’s 36% decline since 2015 remains well short of the 65% threshold the WHO requires for formal elimination certification.

Internationally, it’s worth noting that full viral hepatitis elimination status covers both hepatitis B and hepatitis C together, and NHS England has been explicit that while hepatitis C progress is “world-leading,” more work remains on hepatitis B diagnosis and care linkage, with a national patient management system planned for 2026–27 to allow that progress to be tracked more robustly. UKHSA’s next major data update is expected in March 2027, when officials will assess whether the mortality gap has narrowed further and whether England has moved closer to becoming one of the first countries in the world to formally eliminate hepatitis C as a public health threat, years ahead of the WHO’s global 2030 deadline. For a fuller picture of hepatitis C’s disease burden and demographic patterns in a comparably-sized Western health system, our Hepatitis C Statistics in US report offers a useful transatlantic comparison, while readers concerned about the long-term liver damage hepatitis C can cause if left untreated may find our Liver Fibrosis Statistics in US report a helpful companion resource.

Disclaimer: This research report is compiled from publicly available sources. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, no representation or warranty, express or implied, is given as to the completeness or reliability of the information. We accept no liability for any errors, omissions, losses, or damages of any kind arising from the use of this report.

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