Optimising hepatitis c treatment
Optimising Hepatitis C Treatment for People Who Inject Drugs: Developing a GP-led Patient Pathway
(2019-2021)
The hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a serious infection that attacks the liver and is a leading cause of mortality and morbidity worldwide. In Scotland, approximately 37,000 people are infected, with over 85% of these infections in people who inject or have injected drugs (PWID). Treatment for HCV is simple, tolerable and effective. However, treatment uptake is estimated at only 5-6%. This means that tens of thousands of people are needlessly suffering. The reasons for such low uptake relates to multiple interruptions in the journey through care and the difficulty of getting those diagnosed with HCV into treatment. One strategy to improve this is moving HCV treatment away from traditional specialist centres, and into primary care. This strategy has been successful in other health care systems.
Project team
David Whiteley (Principal investigator, Glasgow Caledonian University), Lawrie Elliott (GCU), Paul Flowers (University of Strathclyde), K Davidson (NHS Lothian), H Jarvis (Newcastle University), M Quinn (NHS Lothian) E Hamilton (Scottish Drugs Forum)
Contact: david.whitely@gcu.ac.uk
Funded by the Chief Scientist Office
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