Integrating hepatitis C testing and treatment into routine HIV care in Cameroon is feasible

Introduction

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) prevalence and adverse outcomes are higher among people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) than people without HIV. Yet, HCV prevalence among people with HIV in Cameroon remains unknown, with HCV diagnosis and treatment largely inaccessible due to care centralization by specialists with high out-of-pocket costs. Integration of HCV services into routine HIV care by general practitioners could improve diagnosis and treatment coverage. We aimed to examine HCV prevalence and treatment cure rate among people with HIV attending 11 HIV clinics in the Centre Region of Cameroon.

Methods

We offered HCV rapid antibody testing, and, if positive, RNA testing to all persons ≥21 years, on HIV ART for ≥6 months and with suppressed HIV RNA (<1000 copies) who attended HIV counselling and treatment appointments between 20 April 2021 and 31 May 2022. Participants with an HCV RNA positive test received 12 weeks of pangenotypic sofosbuvir/velpatasvir. We calculated the cure rate as the proportion of participants with a sustained virological response 12 weeks after treatment completion (SVR12) among all starting and completing treatment.

Results

We tested 8266 persons for HCV antibodies, 316 (3.8%, 95% CI = 3.4−4.3%) of whom were anti-HCV positive. Of these, 286 (90.5%) were sampled for HCV RNA, 20 (6.3%) ineligible, 5 (1.6%) declined, 4 (1.3%) left before sampling and 1 (0.3%) had an unknown reason. Among 286 sampled, 251 (87.8%) had detectable HCV RNA. Of these, 173 (68.9%) enrolled for treatment, 55 (21.9%) were eligible but not enrolled (49 lost-to-follow-up, 6 denied) and 23 (9.2%) were ineligible. Of 173 enrolled, 165 completed treatment, 6 were lost-to-follow-up and 2 were excluded due to treatment interruption. SVR12 was achieved in 93.6% (n = 162; 95% CI: 88.9–96.8%) of those enrolled and 98.2% (95% CI: 94.8–99.6%) of treatment completers. All three initially not achieving SVR12 were cured with second-line treatment (sofosbuvir/velpatasvir/voxilaprevir).

Conclusions

Our study demonstrates the viability of integrating HCV testing and treatment into routine HIV care in Cameroon, yielding new HCV diagnoses and high cure rates. Cameroon can use this strategy to achieve HCV elimination goals, although improvements in testing uptake, diagnosis and treatment access, and laboratory capacity are needed.