National Progress Report 2025 Goal: Reduce reported rate* of hepatitis C-related deaths by ≥20%

Source: CDC, National Vital Statistics System (1)
*Rates are per 100,000 population and age-adjusted to the 2000 US Standard Population.
†Cause of death is defined as the underlying cause of death or one of the multiple causes of death and is based on the International Classification of Disease, 10th Revision (ICD-10) codes B17.1 or B18.2 (2).

Summary of Findings

The age-adjusted hepatitis C-related mortality rate increased each year from 2010 through 2013 but began to decline in 2014. The age-adjusted hepatitis C-related mortality rate decreased from 4.13 per 100,000 population in 2017 to 3.33 in 2019, below the 2019 target rate of 3.75.

Reduction needed to meet 2025 goal: A 9.9% reduction from the 2019 rate of hepatitis C-related deaths is needed to meet the 2025 goal of 3.00 deaths per 100,000 population.

Further reduction can best be achieved by

• Increasing access to recommended testing for hepatitis C.
• Increasing access to care and appropriate treatment among persons living with hepatitis C.
• Fostering collaborations that increase hepatitis C drug affordability, cost savings for payers, and access for patients.
• Disseminating tools (e.g., telemedicine models) that help health care systems expand their capacity to identify, link to care, and treat persons living with hepatitis C.
• Using case surveillance and electronic health records to ensure persons infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV) are identified and linked to care.
• Implementing continuing education and educational campaigns to encourage testing and dispel myths about who is at increased risk for HCV infection.

Technical Notes

Data Sources: CDC, National Vital Statistics System (NVSS)

Numerator: Number of death records with a report of hepatitis C listed as the underlying or one of the multiple causes of death

Denominator: Total US Census population

Indicator Notes: (1) Death certificates are completed for all deaths registered in the United States. Information for death certificates is provided to funeral directors or cremation organizations by attending physicians, medical examiners, and coroners. Death certificates are filed in vital statistics offices within each state and the District of Columbia.  Through the NVSS, information from death certificates is compiled by CDC to produce national multiple-cause-of-death data; causes of death are coded in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision. (2) National multiple-cause mortality data from NVSS were obtained and analyzed, and those death records with a report of hepatitis C (ICD-10: B17.1 or B18.2) listed as the underlying or one of the multiple (e.g., contributing) causes of death in the record were enumerated. Rates were calculated as the number of deaths among US residents of the 50 states and the District of Columbia related to hepatitis C divided by the total US Census population using the bridged-race postcensal estimates of the July 1 resident population. Rates were standardized to the age distribution of the 2000 US Standard Population.

Goal Setting: The 2025 goal of 3.00 hepatitis C-related deaths per 100,000 population is consistent with CDC’s Division of Viral Hepatitis 2025 Strategic Plan and HHS’s 2021-2025 Viral Hepatitis National Strategic Plan. Annual targets assume a constant (linear) rate of change from the observed baseline (2017 data year) to the 2025 goal (2023 data year).

Limitations: Mortality data must be interpreted with caution due to the potential for misclassification of ICD-10 codes on the death record, underrepresentation of certain racial/ethnic populations in US Census data, and underreporting of viral hepatitis as causes of death on death certificates.

References

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Multiple Cause of Death 1999-2019 on CDC WONDER Online Database, released in 2020. Data are from the Multiple Cause of Death Files, 1999-2019, as compiled from data provided by the 57 vital statistics jurisdictions through the Vital Statistics Cooperative Program. Accessed at http://wonder.cdc.gov/mcd-icd10.html on January 11, 2021.
2. World Health Organization. International Classification of Diseases, 10^th Revision. Geneva: World Health Organization; 1998. Available at: http://www.who.int/classifications/icd/en/