Modeling the Impacts of Prevention and Treatment Interventions on Hepatitis C Among People Who Inject Drugs in China

China has the largest number of people living with the hepatitis C virus. The prevalence of hepatitis C among people who inject drugs is high at 40–50%, significantly higher than the prevalence among other high-risk groups. Preventing the transmission of hepatitis C among people who inject drugs is essential to avoid future liver diseases. We used a mathematical model to evaluate the impacts of different intervention strategies on the incidence, prevalence and mortality of hepatitis C among people who inject drugs in China by 2030. We found that scaled-up hepatitis C screening and treatment integrated with harm reduction programs demonstrated the most substantial reduction in the burden of hepatitis C; specifically, the incidence of hepatitis C in 2030 is reduced by 81.42% and hepatitis-C-related deaths are reduced by 91.94%. Increasing harm reduction program coverage among people who inject drugs has a greater impact in terms of reducing the burden of hepatitis C virus compared with enhanced linkage to care or test frequency alone. Substantial improvements in both testing and treatment integrated with existing harm reduction programs are essential to achieve the goal of eliminating hepatitis C in China by 2030.