As per the results of 2024, a total of 51,000 new cases of hepatitis C were recorded in Russia, the chief infectious disease specialist of the country’s ministry of health, Vladimir Chulanov, informed on Monday.

According to him, most of these people “became infected a long time ago, in unfavorable years,” but it was possible to detect them only now. Moreover, last year the official reported that in 2023 more than 46,000 cases of chronic hepatitis C were registered in Russia.

Chulanov noted that both in the past and now, the increase in the number of newly detected hepatitis C cases in recent years is due to an increase in the amount screening—examination; in particular, within the framework of planned dispensary—preventive examinations.

At the same time, according to Rospotrebnadzor—the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing—data published by RBC, the cases of hepatitis C in 2024—80 percent of cases become chronic—was 34.86 per 100,000 people. This is higher than the figure for 2023—31.63; and in 2022, it was 23.23.

In general, the cases of chronic infectious hepatitis in 2024 were 44.32 per 100,000 people. This is also higher than the figure for 2023—40.17. The average multi-year figure is 46.31 per 100,000 people. According to Rospotrebnadzor data, 78.7 percent of chronic hepatitis cases detected in Russia in 2024 were hepatitis C.

As per the Rospotrebnadzor report, in 2024, Russian state budget expenditures on patients with viral hepatitis C exceeded 78 billion rubles, taking into account direct and indirect costs. Direct medical expenses amounted to about 28.3 billion rubles, of which 74 percent—20.9 billion rubles—was on the purchase of medicines for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C.

At the end of 2024, it became known that the Russian authorities plan to adjust the indicators of funding through the compulsory medical insurance system the treatment of hepatitis C. Instead of the initially planned increase, the standard of financial support for patients suffering from this disease is planned to be reduced by 25 percent.