(Vox) – More than a decade ago, scientists achieved a historic breakthrough: They found a first-ever cure for hepatitis C, one of two related liver diseases that, combined, take more than a million lives every year.

In 2016, just three years after the antiviral drug Sovaldi received FDA approval, the World Health Organization (WHO) set the audacious goal of eliminating the two most common versions of viral hepatitis, B and C. The benchmark was, by 2030, to reduce new infections by 90 percent and deaths by 65 percent. The year before that goal was set, 1.3 million people died from hepatitis B and C.

Much of that optimism behind that goal has now evaporated. After a brief dip, the number of hepatitis deaths worldwide has been rising again — from 1.1 million in 2019 to 1.3 million in 2022, according to WHO. (Read More)