In India 1% population is affected with hepatitis C. Though it seems less as compared to other diseases, the sheer number of patients in terms of population is huge. Hepatitis C, unlike the food borne virus hepatitis A/E does not present with jaundice routinely.
Hepatitis C presents directly when the liver is shrunken and cirrhotic. So it is of utmost importance to identify the infection early. Anybody who has been transfused before 2003 in India should get themselves tested as the virus was not screened before that time in India.
A study carried out in US showed that of 4.1 million affected, only 1.7 million get diagnosed, and only 388 are under care of doctors while only 40 are treated. If such is the scenario in US, it is expected to be worse in India.
The treatment of hepatitis C has always been difficult as it entailed weekly injections for a year and a drug with severe side effects. A lot of patients had to stop treatment because of side effects. Even after going through such a treatment the success for the treatment remain poor. With the conventional treatment of peg interferon and ribavirin the success remained nearly 40% for genotype 1 and 70% for genotype 3, the two most commonly found genotype in India.
Starting from 2011, the scenario for hepatitis C has changed. Newer drugs became available for the treatment and the duration of treatment became shorter. Two initial drugs, bocepravir and telapravir never made it to Indian market. However, in 2015 February, Sofosbuvir became available and that increase the treatment success rate to nearly 90%. But even after that drug, weekly injections were required in majority, which still had side effects.
The picture is completely different. Hepatitis C can be cured even with a single pill to be taken for 12-24 weeks. The efficacy is more than 97% and the side effects are negligible. If you have Hepatitis C, it is now safe and effective to get treated.