Fran­cis Collins read­ies a Biden push to elim­i­nate he­pati­tis C na­tion­wide

When Pres­i­dent Joe Biden’s bud­get comes out on Thurs­day, ex­pect to see a big, po­ten­tial­ly mul­ti-bil­lion-dol­lar pro­pos­al to re­al­ly take a crack at cur­ing more of the near­ly 2 mil­lion he­pati­tis C cas­es that in 2020 led to more than 15,000 deaths, for­mer NIH di­rec­tor Fran­cis Collins said a Stat News event last night in Wash­ing­ton, DC.

“I would like, if it’s pos­si­ble, to be as bold as pos­si­ble and con­tem­plate not just an ef­fort that would im­prove the sit­u­a­tion, but that would elim­i­nate he­pati­tis C in the Unit­ed States,” Collins said. “That’s a scary word and ob­vi­ous­ly would re­quire a huge in­vest­ment to try to reach every­body.”

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