Massive investment is needed to resource hepatitis C virus (HCV) detection and treatment programmes, the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh is warning in a guidance document on HCV. Unless action is taken soon, the Royal College’s guidance warns, liver services across the UK could reach breaking point.
It’s estimated that as many as 600,000 individuals are infected with HCV in the UK, and because many are former or current injecting drug users, the Royal College is calling for special efforts to be made to encourage people with a history of injecting behaviour to test for the virus.
Services should also be redesigned in order to better meet the needs of individuals with HCV. The Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh’s guidance highlights data showing that as many as 50% of individuals failed to attend for clinic appointments. In order to improve attendance rates, nurse-led community outreach clinics in primary care settings, prisons, and drug treatment centres should be set up, doctors advise.
The guidance document can be read here.
Further information on this website
Hepatitis C - overview
UK government launches hepatitis C strategy- news story