Hepatitis C treatment progress can be described with several different denominators. This WHO indicator asks a broad cumulative question: how much treatment has been initiated relative to the estimated HCV infection burden, including the cumulative framework used for people whose infection has later resolved. Restricting the data to the 95 observations dated 2024 gives a median of 2.46% and an unweighted mean of 7.24%. Sixty-six of the 95 observations are below 5%, while Egypt is a major high-end outlier at 98.46%.
This should not be read as a simple snapshot of the share of people who are currently viraemic and currently on treatment. WHO uses a cumulative treatment framework intended to reflect historical testing and treatment effort since 2015. People who were treated and cured, or whose infection resolved naturally, can remain part of the cumulative infection framework used to interpret progress. The result is closer to a long-run treatment-reach indicator than to a one-year treatment rate.
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What cumulative hepatitis C treatment coverage measures
The WHO indicator metadata describes HCV treatment coverage among the infected population as the proportion of people with viraemic hepatitis C who have initiated treatment. The numerator is the number of people ever initiated on HCV treatment, while the denominator is an estimated HCV infection population. WHO notes that the HCV cumulative framework includes resolved infections, including people who were cured or naturally cleared, and is intended to reflect historical testing and treatment coverage since 2015.
That makes this indicator different from treatment among people already diagnosed. The diagnosed-population measure focuses on linkage from diagnosis to treatment. The cumulative infected-population measure is broader: it relates treatment initiation to the estimated infection burden, so an undiagnosed gap can keep coverage low even when treatment linkage among diagnosed patients is strong.
Treatment effectiveness is another concept again. The WHO hepatitis C fact sheet explains that direct-acting antiviral medicines can cure more than 95% of people with HCV infection. A highly effective medicine does not automatically produce high population treatment coverage; people must first be found, diagnosed, linked to care and started on treatment.
The 2024 median is 2.46% across 95 observations
Among the 95 observations dated 2024, the median cumulative treatment coverage is 2.46% and the simple unweighted mean is 7.24%. The first quartile is 0.83% and the third quartile is 6.12%, so half of the observations lie roughly between 0.8% and 6.1%. The mean is almost three times the median because a small upper tail pulls the average upward. This is not a patient-weighted global coverage rate; every country or area contributes one row.
The grouped distribution makes the skew especially clear. Thirty observations are below 1%, 36 are from 1% to under 5%, 12 are from 5% to under 10%, eight are from 10% to under 20%, six are from 20% to under 40%, and only three are at 40% or above. Sixty-six of 95 observations—about 69%—are below 5%.
Egypt is the 2024 high-end outlier at 98.46%
Egypt reports 98.46% in the 2024 same-year subset, far above the rest of the distribution. Georgia is 47.71% and Andorra 41.10%. Bermuda is 39.23%, Bosnia and Herzegovina 38.16%, Rwanda 37.19%, Switzerland 33.31%, the Republic of Moldova 26.13% and Belarus 24.60%. Only nine of the 95 observations are at or above 20%.
| Country or area | 2024 cumulative HCV treatment coverage |
|---|---|
| Egypt | 98.46% |
| Georgia | 47.71% |
| Andorra | 41.10% |
| Bermuda | 39.23% |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 38.16% |
| Rwanda | 37.19% |
| Switzerland | 33.31% |
| Republic of Moldova | 26.13% |
| Belarus | 24.60% |
These values should not be treated as a simple league table of health-system quality. Cumulative coverage depends on the historical scale of testing and treatment, the estimated infection burden, the timing of national treatment programmes and the completeness of reporting. Because the numerator accumulates treatment initiation while the denominator is estimated, small differences between countries do not isolate the effect of any one policy.
Very low values do not mean treatment is absent
At the low end of the 2024 data, the Democratic Republic of the Congo is 0.01%, Uganda 0.02%, Papua New Guinea and the United Republic of Tanzania 0.03%, Maldives 0.04%, Benin 0.06%, and Burundi and Ecuador 0.09%. Those values do not mean that no HCV treatment exists. They mean that cumulative treatment initiation is very small relative to the estimated cumulative infection burden used by the indicator.
The indicator also cannot identify the cause of a low value on its own. Testing access, diagnosis, linkage to care, medicine availability, affordability, health-service geography, reporting systems and revisions to infection estimates can all matter. The country comparison shows the outcome, not the independent contribution of each possible driver.
Seven latest observations are not from 2024
The latest-value map contains 102 country and area observations, but the reference year is mixed. Ninety-five are dated 2024. Brazil reports 34.52% and Thailand 10.56% for 2025. The Republic of Korea is 32.04%, Canada 36.63%, the United Kingdom 28.03% and Australia 2.63% in 2023, while Japan’s retained latest value is 29.25% in 2021. These seven observations remain useful for the latest-value map but are excluded from the 2024 distribution and ranking tables.
That separation matters particularly for a cumulative indicator because treatment initiation can accumulate over time. Ranking a 2021 observation directly against a 2025 observation as though both describe the same reporting period would mix programme progress with data recency. The article therefore uses 2024 as the common-year analytical subset while preserving the most recent available value for the map.
Read diagnosis, treatment among diagnosed people and cumulative coverage together
A useful HCV care cascade separates at least three questions. How much of the estimated infected population has been diagnosed? Among people diagnosed, how many have started treatment? And relative to the total estimated infection burden, how much treatment has accumulated over time? This article addresses the third question. A strong result at one stage does not guarantee a strong result at the other stages.
For example, a country can treat a high share of people who have already been diagnosed yet still have low cumulative coverage if many infections remain undiagnosed. Conversely, countries with large historical testing and treatment campaigns can accumulate much higher coverage. The measure is therefore most useful as an elimination-progress indicator rather than as a measure of drug efficacy or a simple snapshot of current clinical care.
Source and calculation method
The statistical source is the WHO Global Health Observatory indicator HEPATITIS_HCV_TREATMENT_CUM_PERINFECTED_CRD_PER100. The definition is documented in the WHO indicator metadata, while the country observations are available through the WHO GHO OData API. The WHO chronic viral hepatitis topic page places treatment coverage alongside diagnosis, infection and mortality indicators.
The latest-value map uses all 102 retained observations. The median, mean, grouped distribution and 2024 ranking table use only the 95 rows dated 2024. Missing countries are not converted to zero. Very small islands can be present in the statistics without appearing as distinct polygons in the low-resolution world boundary layer.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does cumulative hepatitis C treatment coverage measure?
It relates the number of people ever initiated on HCV treatment to the estimated HCV infection burden under WHO’s cumulative framework. It is not a simple snapshot of the share of currently viraemic people on treatment.
Is this the same as treatment coverage among people already diagnosed?
No. Treatment among diagnosed people uses the diagnosed population as the denominator. This cumulative indicator uses the estimated infected population, so diagnosis gaps remain relevant.
Are all values on the map from 2024?
No. Of 102 latest observations, 95 are from 2024. Brazil and Thailand are from 2025; Australia, Canada, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom are from 2023; and Japan is from 2021. The 2024 statistics use only the 95 same-year rows.
Is the 7.24% unweighted mean the global HCV treatment coverage rate?
No. It is a simple mean across the 95 country and area observations dated 2024. It does not weight countries by the number of people living with HCV.
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- Hepatitis C Treatment Among Diagnosed People Map
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