Hepatitis C Partnership - one year on
As you may recall, the launch of the pilot was marked by a roundtable meeting in Weston-super-Mare in November 2014, which brought together local healthcare commissioners, clinical experts and organisations supporting people who use drugs to discuss how a renewed focus on increased testing and treatment could lead to the elimination of hepatitis C in the county.
Hepatitis C is curable. Yet, just 3% of the 214,000 people thought to have hepatitis C receive treatment each year. Since hepatitis C is a blood-borne virus, people who inject drugs are at high risk of contracting it. Our pilot therefore set out to offer support to people who use Addaction’s services to take greater ownership of their health, get tested for hepatitis C and begin treatment where appropriate.
As the early results show, North Somerset is leading the way in supporting people who use drugs in addressing their hepatitis C status. We are already rolling out the workforce development and peer education models across services in Devon and Dorset and hope that the lessons from North Somerset will soon lead to the introduction of similar initiatives across the UK, bringing us another step closer to achieving our ultimate aim of eliminating hepatitis C.
See Hepatitis C Partnership – One Year On for more information.
