Summary Due to the introduction of newer, more efficacious treatment options, there is a pressing need for policy makers and public health officials to develop or adapt national hepatitis C virus (HCV) control strategies to the changing epidemiological landscape. To do so, detailed, country‐specific data are needed to characterize the burden of chronic HCV infection. In this study of 17 countries, a literature review of published and unpublished data on HCV prevalence, viraemia, genotype, age and gender distribution, liver transplants and diagnosis and treatment rates was conducted, and inputs were validated by expert consensus in each country. Viraemic prevalence in this study ranged from 0.2% in Hong Kong to 2.4% in Taiwan, while the largest viraemic populations were in Nigeria (2 597 000 cases) and Taiwan (569 000 cases). Diagnosis, treatment and liver transplant rates varied widely across the countries included in this analysis, as did the availability of reliable data. Addressing data gaps will be critical for the development of future strategies to manage and minimize the disease burden of hepatitis C.

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Summary The hepatitis C virus (HCV) epidemic was forecasted through 2030 for 17 countries in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East, and interventions for achieving the Global Health Sector Strategy on viral hepatitis targets—“WHO Targets” (65% reduction in HCV‐related deaths, 90% reduction in new infections and 90% of infections diagnosed by 2030) were considered. Scaling up treatment and diagnosis rates over time would be required to achieve these targets in all but one country, even with the introduction of high SVR therapies. The scenarios developed to achieve the WHO Targets in all countries studied assumed the implementation of national policies to prevent new infections and to diagnose current infections through screening.

Liver biopsy even today remains the standard of care for grading and staging chronic hepatitis despite advances in noninvasive markers of liver fibrosis. Literature suggests an expanding role for real-time image guided liver biopsy and declining trend for blind liver biopsies. In our center, where we perform around 400 liver biopsies per year, we performed a prospective clinical audit of our practice of blind outpatient percutaneous liver biopsies. Patients requiring histological grading and staging of chronic hepatitis routinely undergo blind outpatient percutaneous liver biopsies in our endoscopy unit unless there is a definite indication for real-time image guidance. All procedures were assessed for safety, and all specimens were evaluated by a specimen quality grading score for adequacy for grading and staging of chronic hepatitis. Of the 446 patients referred for histological grading and staging of chronic hepatitis C by liver biopsy, only 42 patients (9.5 %) required real-time ultrasound for liver biopsy. The remaining 404 patients underwent blind outpatient percutaneous liver biopsies which were found to be extremely safe with no major complications, yielding adequate liver tissue with high specimen quality score allowing optimal grading and staging of chronic hepatitis.

Background. Lamivudine is the most affordable drug used for chronic hepatitis B and has a high safety profile. With the daily dose of 100 mg there is progressive appearance of resistance to lamivudine therapy. In our study we used 150 mg of lamivudine daily as a standard dose which warrants further exploration for the efficacy of the drug. Aims of the Study. To assess the efficacy of lamivudine 150 mg daily on resistance in patients with chronic hepatitis B. Methods. This retrospective study consists of 53 patients with chronic hepatitis B treated with 150 mg of lamivudine daily. The biochemical and virological response to the treatment were recorded at a 1-year and 2-, 3-, 4-, and 5-year period and time of emergence of resistance to the treatment was noted. Results. The mean age of the patients was 54 years with 80% being males. The resistance to lamivudine 150 mg daily at 1 year and 2, 3, and 5 years was 12.5%, 22.5%, 37.5%, and 60%, respectively, which is much less compared to the standard dose of 100 mg of lamivudine. Conclusions. Lamivudine is safe and a higher dose of 150 mg daily delays the resistance in patients with chronic hepatitis B.