EPIToPe

EPIToPe: Evaluating the Population Impact of Hepatitis C Direct Acting Antiviral Treatment as Prevention for People Who Inject Drugs

2018-2024

An estimated 200,000 people in the UK have been infected with the Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), which is an important cause of liver disease, cancer and death.  Most HCV infections in the UK are in people who inject drugs.  New Direct Acting Antiviral (DAA) HCV therapies now combine high cure rates (>90%) with short treatment duration (8-12 weeks). EPIToPe aims to generate empirical evidence on the effectiveness of HCV “Treatment as Prevention“in People who Inject Drugs (PWID). Despite effective prevention interventions, chronic HCV prevalence is still 40% among PWID. Evidence from mathematical modelling suggests that HCV treatment is essential to achieving substantial reductions in HCV prevalence and incidence among PWID. EPIToPE aims to test whether scaling up HCV DAA treatment will reduce chronic HCV prevalence and transmission among PWID.

Recommendations

As part of EPIToPe, a set of evidence-based, theory-informed and stakeholder-driven recommendations has been produced, with information on how best to upscale and optimise the delivery of Hepatitis C testing and treatment in various community settings.  To find out more, download EPIToPe Recommendations.

Project team

Sharon Hutchinson (co-PI, Glasgow Caledonian University), Matt Hickman (co-PI, University of Bristol), John Dillon (University of Dundee), Daniela De Angelis (MRC Biostatistics Unit, University of Cambridge), Lawrie Elliott (Glasgow Caledonian University), Graham Foster (Queen Mary, University of London), David Goldberg (Glasgow Caledonian University, Public Health Scotland), Natasha Martin (University of Bristol), Ann Eriksen (NHS Tayside), Peter Donnan (University of Dundee), Sema Mandal (Public Health England), Peter Vickerman (University of Bristol), William Hollingworth (University of Bristol), David Liddell (Scottish Drugs Forum), Paul Flowers (Glasgow Caledonian University), Samreen Ijaz (Public Health England), Magdalena Harris (London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine)

Contact: sharon.hutchinson@gcu.ac.uk

Website: http://www.bristol.ac.uk/population-health-sciences/projects/epitope/

This project is funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grant for Applied Research (RP-PG-0616-20008) (£2.8 million).