The UK government has published its first national strategy to combat hepatitis C. It is thought that as many as 200,000 people in the UK are infected with the virus which can cause potentially fatal liver disease, and that many people are unaware that they are infected with the virus.
Substantial numbers of people with HIV are also infected with hepatitis C, with one major London HIV clinic estimating that as many as 7% of its patients are infected with both viruses.
The government hepatitis C strategy, part of its wider infectious diseases plan Getting Ahead of the Curve is intended to improve professional and public knowledge of hepatitis C and sets out measures for a New National infection Control and Health Protection Agency which will “provide an integrated approach to protecting the health of the public against infectious diseases” . It also lays out a framework of proposals for the improvement of prevention, diagnosis and treatment services for hepatitis C.
In particular, the strategy proposes investing more attention to preventing new cases of hepatitis C in drug users who share injecting equipment, who account for the majority of cases of hepatitis C in the UK and are the group most likely to be coinfected with hepatitis C and HIV.
In addtion, many people were infected with hepatitis C by blood products before screening was introduced in 1986, and there is some evidence that hepatitis C can also be spread by certain sexual practices, particularly those involving contact with blood. There is emerging evidence that a significant number of gay men have been infected with hepatitis C sexually, and that those with HIV may be particularly vulnerable to infection.
Speaking at the launch of the document, Dr Pat Troop, deputy chief medical officer said that it was important to get people to come forward for hepatitis C testing as “antiviral drug therapy is now available which can clear the infection in some 50% of people and prevent progression to serious liver disease.” The strategy states that where clinically indicated, people with hepatitis C should receive treatment with a combination of interferon and ribavirin.
A special edition of AIDS Treatment Update focused on HIV/hepatitis co-infection and is available on-line. As are NAM’s entry-level Factsheets on hepatitis and the liver
A separate draft government strategy on HIV and sexual health was produced last year, and a final version is expected to published shortly.