A protective vaccine against infection with hepatitis C could be in use within five years, says Professor Sir Michael Houghton. He co-won the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Physiology and discovered the hepatitis C virus (HCV) in 1989.

According to the WHO website, up to 2 million new HCV infections occur every year around the world, with an estimated 70 million carriers of the virus globally, most of whom are not diagnosed. The HCV is estimated to cause some 400,000 deaths annually addition, many infected with the virus go on to develop liver cirrhosis and liver cancer.

On July 15, 2021, New guidelines from WHO strongly recommend offering self-testing for HCV as an additional approach to HCV testing services.