HIV care in the Netherlands is provided by 26 designated treatment centers. This cohort captures data on >98% of patients with HIV and in care in the Netherlands and is therefore highly representative of the overall Dutch HIV/HCV epidemic. Here we describe the national HCV treatment uptake in HIV/HCV-coinfected patients in the Netherlands, using data from the AIDS Therapy Evaluation in the Netherlands (ATHENA) HIV observational cohort. Scaling up HCV treatment is one of the interventions that, combined with increased harm reduction strategies and scaling up of testing, may lead to a lower incidence and prevalence of HCV infection and eventually to its elimination. On 1 November 2015, the Dutch government, among other countries in the world, expanded the reimbursement criteria and made DAA treatment possible for all patients with chronic HCV infection, regardless of their fibrosis stage. These fibrosis restrictions also applied to patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In the Netherlands, the first all-oral DAA regimens became available for chronic hepatitis C in June 2014, but initially only for patients with severe liver fibrosis, defined as liver fibrosis stage F3 or higher (METAVIR scoring system). However, its high cost has led to restricted reimbursement in many countries. Treatment with combinations of direct-acting antivirals (DAAs) is short, safe, and highly effective in curing chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection. (See the Major Article by Boerekamps et al on pages 1360–5 and the Editorial Commentary by Rockstroh on pages 1366–7.) HIV/HCV coinfection, direct-acting antivirals, treatment uptake
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