Glasgow: England is set to become one of the first countries in the world to close in on eliminating the liver disease hepatitis C.
According to the National Health Service (NHS), 80% of known cases have been successfully treated, while deaths from the disease have fallen by 36% in the past 10 years.
The NHS says that blood tests in emergency departments, screening at the time of registration with a GP and the provision of free home test kits have enabled thousands of people who were previously unaware of their disease to be diagnosed, after which they were treated in a timely manner.
According to statistics, more than 100,000 people have been diagnosed and treated since 2015.
Experts say that about 95% of patients recover completely after using modern antiviral drugs for 8 to 12 weeks, which has brought England closer to achieving the global target of eliminating hepatitis C.
