Screening, diagnosis and care cascade for viral hepatitis B and C in Yaoundé, Cameroon: a qualitative study of patients and health providers coping with uncertainty and unbearable costs.

Large out-of-pocket expenditures related to biological follow-up and treatment pose a real challenge to receiving appropriate care. Free or reasonably priced access to hepatitis B and C treatments can only be effective and efficient at reducing the hepatitis disease burden if the screening algorithm and the whole pretherapeutic assessment package are simplified, standardised and subsidised by comprehensive national policies orientated towards universal healthcare.