Exclusive: NHS to use AI to identify people at higher risk of hepatitis C

The NHS is to use artificial intelligence to detect, screen and treat people at risk of hepatitis C under plans to eradicate the disease by 2030. Hepatitis C often does not have any noticeable symptoms until the liver has been severely damaged, which means thousands of people are living with the infection – known as the silent killer – without realising it. Left untreated, it can cause life-threatening damage to the liver over years. But with modern treatments now available, it is possible to cure the infection. Now health chiefs are launching a hi-tech screening programme in England in a fresh drive to identify thousands of people unaware they have the virus.