Basic Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Gastroenterol. Aug 21, 2021; 27(31): 5219-5231
Published online Aug 21, 2021. doi: 10.3748/wjg.v27.i31.5219
Planning the hepatitis C virus elimination in Cyprus: A modeling study
Ilias Gountas, Ioanna Yiasemi, Evi Kyprianou, Christos Mina, Chrysanthos Georgiou, Petros Katsioloudes, Andri Kouroufexi, Anna Demetriou, Elena Xenofontos, Georgios Nikolopoulos
Ilias Gountas, Georgios Nikolopoulos, Medical School, University of Cyprus, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus
Ioanna Yiasemi, Evi Kyprianou, Christos Mina, Cyprus Monitoring Centre, Cyprus National Addictions Authority, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus
Chrysanthos Georgiou, Nicosia General Hospital, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus
Petros Katsioloudes, Evangelistria Medical Centre, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus
Andri Kouroufexi, Ministry of Health, Pharmaceutical Services, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus
Anna Demetriou, Ministry of Health, Health Monitoring Unit, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus
Elena Xenofontos, Department of Internal Medicine, Limassol General Hospital, Limassol 4131, Cyprus
Author contributions: Gountas I and Nikolopoulos G conceived the study; Gountas I performed the modelling and drafted the manuscript; Nikolopoulos G coordinated the study; Yiasemi I, Kyprianou E, Mina C, Georgiou C, Katsioloudes P, Kouroufexi A, Demetriou A, Xenofontos E, and Nikolopoulos G provided essential input and contributed extensively to writing the manuscript; all authors contributed to model interpretation and approved the final version.
Supported by the Onisilos Funding Scheme of the University of Cyprus.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Ilias Gountas reports grants from GILEAD and AbbVie, outside the submitted work; Georgios Nikolopoulos reports grants from ASKLEPIOS GILEAD GRANT, outside the submitted work; all the other authors have no conflicts of interest.
Data sharing statement: All relevant data are within the paper.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Ilias Gountas, PhD, Postdoc, Senior Statistician, Statistician, Teacher, Medical School, University of Cyprus, Kalipoleos 75, Nicosia 1678, Cyprus. hgkoyntas@med.uoa.gr
Received: February 10, 2021
Peer-review started: February 10, 2021
First decision: May 1, 2021
Revised: May 13, 2021
Accepted: July 16, 2021
Article in press: July 16, 2021
Published online: August 21, 2021
Core Tip

Core Tip: Direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) that can eliminate hepatitis C virus are not yet available in the Republic of Cyprus. However, when DAAs become available, a long-term strategic plan to guide elimination efforts will be needed to maximize the effect of treatment. To achieve the elimination goals, 3080 patients need to be diagnosed and treated by 2034 (2680 from the general population and 400 from people who inject drugs), and harm reduction coverage among people who inject drugs should be increased by 3% per year.