In April 2019, this article on HCV screening in Malaysia was published in the journal, Value of Health Regional Issues. Authored by Pharos’s Lindsey Hiebert and colleagues at the University of Malaya and the Netherlands Institute for Public Health and the Environment, it models an efficient strategy for screening patients in order to reach Malaysia’s HCV elimination targets.

To develop a screening strategy, we designed and analyzed a step-wise approach where targeted screening of people who inject drugs (PWID) and others with higher rates of infection would be phased in over time. Making hepatitis screening as efficient as possible is an important issue for low- and middle-income countries. Millions of individuals remain un-diagnosed and as HCV drug prices continue to decline, screening costs will become an important cost driver. We believe our Malaysia analysis and tools can assist other countries looking to design similar programs.