US government commits to new hepatitis plan but won't fund treatment.

Abstract

The US government has committed itself to raising awareness about viral hepatitis and creating training opportunities for health professionals to diagnose, treat, and vaccinate against the infections. However, it will not create a new funding stream to help pay for treating people with the disease as it did for HIV. Paying for treatment of hepatitis infections will be the responsibility of private and government supported health insurance programmes under scheduled health reforms, announced the Department of Health and Human Services at a news conference on 12 May. We are committed to “increasing coordination and scaling up our resources to meet the rising need,” said Howard Koh, assistant secretary for health. The new federal action plan for viral hepatitis is organised around six areas …