25 Years From Discovery To Cure: The Hepatitis C Story | Nezam Afdhal | TEDxOxford

The discovery of the hepatitis C virus in 1989 and 25 years of has led to new treatments that can now cure almost all patients with hepatitis C and have the ability to reach almost 200 million people globally. Dr. Afdhal discusses how discovery of the virus lead to understanding the global epidemiology and modes of spread of hepatitis C and the recognition that it was the commonest cause of cirrhosis, liver cancer and need for liver transplantation. The development of model systems to look at viral replication led to treatments initially with injectable interferon with low cure rates and poor patient tolerability to new all oral direct acting anti-viral agents which can cure patients with a simple, safe and effective 8 – 12 week treatment. Finally Dr. Afdhal discusses how these treatments have changed the discussion in the US on the cost of new medications and the ongoing plans to bring these expensive treatments to developing countries with high hepatitis C burden.

Nezam H. Afdhal, MD, is a Senior Physician at the Liver Center at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts. He is also Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Afdhal received his MD degree in 1981 from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and did fellowship training at University College Dublin and at Boston University School of Medicine. He is the Chief Medical Officer of Spring Bank Pharmaceuticals.
Dr. Afdhal’s clinical expertise focuses on the management of the complications of liver disease, including cirrhosis and portal hypertension. His research has been on liver fibrosis, hepatitis B and C where he has led national and international teams on the treatment and cure of HCV and HBV. He is currently working on issues of global access and education for HCV in the developing world.

This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx