As part of NHS plans to eradicate the disease entirely, children in England are set to be the first in the world to be offered a cure for hepatitis C.

More than 100 children have been identified for treatment, with hundreds more set to benefit in the coming months and years. NHS England has said that those aged three to 18 years will be given the lifesaving antiviral tablets to treat and cure the condition. Previously, children under 12 years of age could not receive the treatment.

The NHS Long Term Plan set out ambitions for the NHS to be the first in the world to eliminate the condition ahead of the 2030 World Health Organization commitment.

Patients are treated with five antiviral tablets, with two follow-up blood tests – one at the end of their treatment and another 24 weeks later and if both are negative it means the child has been cured of hepatitis.

Professor Stephen Powis, Medical Director for NHS England, said: “It is not very often we get the opportunity to completely eradicate a disease, but this world-first treatment for children will help the NHS achieve its goal to eliminate hepatitis C in England way ahead of the 2030 target set by the World Health Organisation.

“Getting children access to this treatment as early as possible will transform the lives of children and their families and is the latest life-saving drug offered to children by the NHS, following innovative gene-therapies to cure blindness and the world’s most expensive drug Zolgensma which can cure paralysis in babies made available on the health service this year.”