Tag: Hepatitis C

Hepatitis C toolkit

Posted on by Milutin

People who inject drugs are a key population for the elimination of hepatitis C in Europe, and increasing their access to HCV testing and care is a goal in European and national hepatitis C policies. Despite this, HCV testing remains low among people who inject drugs and effective approaches to promote testing as the first element of a cascade of care are particularly needed.

The European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) has launched a vital toolkit to enhance Hepatitis C testing and care, supporting the World Health Organisation’s 2030 goal to eliminate Hepatitis. It is a step by step guide for those involved in planning and managing infectious diseases and drug services, focusing on how to identify barriers to and opportunities for improving provision of HCV testing and access to treatment for people who inject drugs. It incorporates tools and materials supporting the organisation of a participatory process for identifying actions at the national or local level in order to improve the situation.

The toolkit was presented at the World Hepatitis Summit held this week in Lisbon.

More information and the toolkit are available following this link>>>.

 

Global HCV elimination efforts through point-of-care testing

Posted on by Milutin

The International Network on Health and Hepatitis in Substance Users (INHSU), in collaboration with the Coalition for Global Hepatitis Elimination (CGHE), FIND, The Kirby Institute, UNSW, and Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), announced the release of a comprehensive report stemming from the INHSU Hepatitis C Point-of-Care Testing Forum, held during the Global Hepatitis Summit in Paris in April 2023.

Despite advances in treatment, an estimated 57 million people are living with chronic hepatitis C infection globally, with 290,000 people dying from HCV-related cirrhosis and liver cancer each year. Scaling up testing and utilising innovative testing methods are integral if the World Health Organization’s (WHO) 2030 elimination targets are to be met.

The Barriers and solutions to increasing access to point-of-care HCV testing report, developed in response to the urgent need for effective strategies to combat the global burden of HCV, explores the underutilised promise of point-of-care testing in simplifying diagnosis, improving access to treatment, and ultimately reducing the prevalence of HCV.

The report underscores the urgent need for action to address challenges in these five key areas and provides practical solutions for implementation alongside real-world examples of successful Point-of-Care programs from Catalonia, Iran, Denmark and more.  It is a valuable resource for policymakers, healthcare professionals, and organisations committed to advancing global HCV elimination goals.

 

European Testing Week 2022

Posted on by Milutin

European Testing Week is a European campaign that encourages partner organisations – in community, health care and policy institutions – throughout Europe to unite for one week twice a year to increase testing efforts and promote awareness on the benefits of earlier hepatitis and HIV testing. This initiative has progressed since its start in 2013 and has grown to be a widely recognised European event with hundreds of organisations participating every year. What once started as an annual event has now become a biannual event with two ETWs occurring each year in Spring (May) and Autumn (November). Each organisation volunteers their own time to organise their Testing Week activities and create incredible displays of a united effort to increase testing awareness at all organisational levels.

Now in its ninth year, the European Testing Week initiative will host the Spring and Autumn ETWs on the following dates:

  • Spring ETW: 16 – 23 May 2022
  • Autumn ETW: 21 – 28 November 2022

The aim of the Spring and Autumn ETWs remain the same: to unite partner organisations throughout Europe for one week to increase access to testing and promote awareness on the benefits of earlier hepatitis and HIV testing.

If you are interested in joining the campaign, visit this link>>> and register your organisation!

 

Increasing linkage to care and adherence to treatment for hepatitis C among people who inject drugs

Posted on by Milutin

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a major public health threat due to disease burden and risk of complications and death. Injecting drug use is the most likely mode of HCV transmission reported in the EU/EEA and accounted for 49% of acute and 61% of chronic infections in 2018. Compared to other drug-associated blood-borne viral infections, HCV is the most prevalent one among people who inject drugs (PWID) across Europe. Prevalence of HCV antibody among PWID estimated from nationally representative samples ranged between 15% and 86% during 2018–2019. The prevalence of current infections measured by HCV-RNA (or antigen) tests ranged from 15% to 64% between 2013 and 2019 in six countries with available data. PWID are therefore considered as a priority population in prevention, testing, linkage to care and treatment, and prevention of re-infections to achieve HCV elimination.

Following advances in treatment for hepatitis C (HCV), optimizing linkage to care and adherence to treatment of people who inject drugs became of pivotal importance. An ECDC/EMCDDA stakeholders survey in 2018 indicated that two components of the cascade of care, linkage to care and adherence to treatment, were priority areas for inclusion in the updated guidance, planned for publication in 2022. The systematic review Interventions to increase linkage to care and adherence to treatment for hepatitis C among people who inject drugs: A systematic review and practical considerations from an expert panel consultation was commissioned with the aim to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions on HCV linkage to care and adherence to treatment among people who inject drugs.

Available evidence suggests that integrated, people-centered approaches may improve engagement throughout the continuum of HCV care among people who inject drugs. For progressing HCV elimination efforts, interventions should be implemented in colocation with harm reduction and counselling activities and in combination with additional services, including opioid substitution treatment, directly observed therapy, peer support and/or contingency management.

Highlights of the review include:

  • Integrated care and cooperation between service providers optimize the HCV care continuum among people who inject drugs.
  • Results suggest that people who inject drugs with HCV infection can be effectively linked and treated with direct-acting antivirals regimens in settings outside of hospital.
  • Interventions that facilitate HCV care must be implemented at settings where people who inject drugs are already accessing services.
  • The experts’ reflections complement the findings of the literature review and inform public health practice by considering the heterogeneity of health systems and national regulatory frameworks.
  • Higher quality studies investigating interventions addressing the entire care cascade from testing to cure and prevention of reinfections among highly vulnerable populations are urgently needed.

To read the full article, follow this link>>>.

 

HepHIV 2021 Lisbon & Virtual Conference

Posted on by Milutin

The next HepHIV conference will take place 5-7 May 2021 in a mixed face-to-face and virtual format involving participants from across community, public health and the health system.

The conference will focus on the latest evidence, best practices, achievements and challenges in the field of viral hepatitis, HIV, tuberculosis (TB) and sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevention, testing and care, highlighting progress achieved in testing policy implementation since the ECDC integrated testing guidance was released in 2018. The conference will also specifically address the impact of and lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic on the availability and provision of testing and other health services.

Abstract submission is now open with abstract deadline on 7 February, 2021. HepHIV abstracts should contain original material from recent work that is not yet in publication. The HepHIV conference encourages research on testing and linkage to care as well as best practice examples and lessons learned, also in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Also abstracts on integrated testing and linkage to care of key populations within the fields of viral hepatitis, HIV, STIs and TB are encouraged.

The abstract categories are:

  1. Integrated testing programmes for hepatitis/HIV/TB/STI/TB
  2. Innovative testing services during the COVID-19 pandemic; lessons learned, including community engagement in COVID-19 testing
  3. New testing and sampling technologies to increase testing coverage, e.g. home-based HIV testing/sampling, finger prick, oral fluid, urine etc.; obstacles overcome
  4. Combination prevention for hepatitis/HIV/TB/STI in the COVID/post-COVID era
  5. PrEP integration with combination prevention, including PrEP for heterosexual men, women, trans people and other underserved potential PrEP users
  6. Models of testing and linkage to care for PWID and PWUD
  7. Testing implementation in prisons and other closed settings
  8. Engagement and integration of marginalised populations to develop innovative testing programmes which address multiple vulnerabilities

The overall objective of EuroTEST is to ensure that people living with HIV, viral hepatitis, STIs or TB have access to testing and enter care earlier in the course of their infection than is currently the case, as well as to study the decrease in the proportion presenting late for care. The initiative, originally named HIV in Europe, began in 2007 as way to bring attention to the importance of earlier diagnosis and care for people living with HIV. Although the initiative started with a HIV focus, the growing evidence has shown that HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C share overlaps in the modes of transmission and affect common key populations therefore, the initiative made a concerted effort in 2013 to also prioritise hepatitis. Since its initiation, HIV in Europe has built a European platform where independent experts from civil society, policy institutions, health care and European public health institutions to work toward influencing policy, knowledge sharing and building the evidence-base to support earlier diagnosis and care of HIV and viral hepatitis across Europe.

To get more information and send and abstract, please follow the Conference link>>>.

 

Collection of models of good practice

Posted on by Milutin

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) Guidance Prevention and control of infectious diseases among people who inject drugs identifies good practice for prevention and control of infectious diseases among people who inject drugs. This guidance aims to support policy makers in Europe to plan adequate, evidence-based, pragmatic, and rationally designed public health responses for the prevention and control of infections among people who inject drugs. It aims at public health programme planners and decision makers working in the fields of infectious diseases, general public health, addiction and mental healthcare, social services, and drug control at national and regional levels.

Published n 2011, the Guidance is currently being updated. In addition to ongoing systematic reviews of peer-reviewed literature, a collection of models of good practice has been initiated by the two agencies, that should add practice-based evidence derived from interventions implemented in real-life, European settings.

The two EU agencies are inviting applications to report models of good practice targeting PWID population aiming to:

  • improve community-based testing
  • increase linkage to care
  • increase adherence to treatment of infection interventions
  • prevention or reduction of infections through successful health promotion approaches

The infections of interest are hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), HIV and tuberculosis (TB).

Should you or your organisation be interested in reporting a model of good practice that fits the scope of this call, please express your interest following this link>>>.

World Hepatitis Day 2020

Posted on by Milutin

Worldwide, 290 million people are living with viral hepatitis unaware. Without finding the undiagnosed and linking them to care, millions will continue to suffer, and lives will be lost.

World Hepatitis Day (WHD) takes places every year on 28 July bringing the world together under a single theme to raise awareness of the global burden of viral hepatitis and to influence real change. In 2020 the theme is ‘Find the Missing Millions’. Have a look at the promotional video of the campaign in 2020

WHD is a day for the world’s hepatitis community to unite and make our voices heard. It’s a day to celebrate the progress we have made and to meet the current challenges. It’s also an opportunity for us to increase awareness and encourage a real political change to jointly facilitate prevention, diagnosis and treatment.

WHD is a great opportunity for us to raise awareness of the importance of knowing your hepatitis status and to spread the word about treatment.

Whether you have one minute or an hour, there are plenty of ways you can get involved in World Hepatitis Day. Find out how to join following this link>>>.

 

The WHO Regional Office for Europe published Compendium of good practices in the health sector response to viral hepatitis in the WHO European Region. It includes 34 practice examples from 18 Member States in the European Region authored by various actors in the collective response to viral hepatitis, including government and national viral hepatitis programmes, academia and public health institutes/research institutes and NGOs and CSOs. The Compendium is available for free download following this link>>>.

 

To inspire and challenge you with its essential stories, our colleagues from Correlation – Harm Reduction Network collected and published Good Practice Examples of hepatitis C interventions which is the first of its kind with a focus on civil society organisations in Europe.

Drug-related infectious diseases in Europe

Posted on by Milutin

Excerpts from the EMCDDA press release

Testing for drug-related infectious diseases among people who inject drugs (PWID) is crucial if international health targets are to be met. This is among the conclusions of a new EMCDDA report Drug-related infectious diseases in Europe. The update, from the agency’s drug-related infectious disease network, stresses that early diagnosis through testing, and improving links to treatment and care, are crucial steps towards reaching global health goals.

Launched during European Testing Week (15–22 May), the report offers an overview of drug-related infectious diseases among PWID in Europe, including the prevalence and incidence of HIV and viral hepatitis. It also tracks progress on health targets and showcases successfully implemented evidence-based interventions. It underlines the need to ramp up prevention and testing and signals that European countries are lagging behind when it comes to treating hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV among PWID.

HIV and chronic viral hepatitis are highly prevalent among people who inject drugs, being transmitted through the sharing of injecting equipment, such as needles and syringes. Addressing the needs of this group is critical to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal of Good Health and Well-being (SDG 3), which calls for ending the AIDS epidemic and combatting viral hepatitis as a public health threat by 2030 (SDG 3.3).

Besides data which include SEE countries which are EU members, there is a small update from neighbouring countries within the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance 7 and EU4Monitoring Drugs project:

The Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) 7 technical cooperation project comprises six beneficiary countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo (1), Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. Data on PWID and other key populations in the region are available from RDS seroprevalence studies: Albania, Kosovo and North Macedonia have conducted such surveys in the past 3 years; Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia are planning to collect data in 2020. There were no HIV-positive cases among PWID in recent surveys conducted in Kosovo or North Macedonia (Mikikj, 2017); older HIV prevalence estimates among PWID ranged between 0 % in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2015 (Skocibusic et al., 2016) to 2 % in Serbia in 2013 (IPH Serbia, 2013). Most recent HCV infection prevalence estimates ranged from 23.8 % in Kosovo to 72 % in North Macedonia. All six beneficiaries are signatories of the Dublin Declaration.

To read full report, follow this link>>>

 

European Testing Week 2020

Posted on by Milutin

European Testing Week is a European campaign that encourages partner organisations – in community, health care and policy institutions – throughout Europe to unite for one week twice a year to increase testing efforts and promote awareness on the benefits of earlier hepatitis and HIV testing. This initiative has progressed since its start in 2013 and has grown to be a widely recognised European event with hundreds of organisations participating every year.

European Testing Week offers partners across Europe the unique opportunity to unite to increase awareness of the benefits of early HIV and hepatitis testing among those who are at risk and promote increased access to testing. In 2019, more than 750 organisations from across 49 countries took part in ETW and thousands more people are now aware of their HIV and hepatitis status.

What once started as an annual event has now become a biannual event with two ETWs occurring each year in Spring (May) and Autumn (November). Each organisation volunteers their own time to organise their Testing Week activities and create incredible displays of a united effort to increase testing awareness at all organisational levels.

Now in its eighth year, the European Testing Week initiative will hold its third Spring European Testing Week from 15 – 22 May 2020.

The aim of the Spring and Autumn ETWs remain the same: to unite partner organisations throughout Europe for one week to increase access to testing and promote awareness on the benefits of earlier hepatitis and HIV testing.

There are many activities that an organisation can do for ETW. They can include activities such as:

  • Outreach testing activities for HBV/HCV/HIV
  • Awareness raising and/or advocacy initiatives
  • Engaging with HBV/HCV/HIV ambassadors or celebrities
  • Training/capacity building
  • Media campaigns and so much more!

For more information, ideas and tools to participate in the campaign, follow this link>>>

Hep C robust prevalence estimates

Posted on by Milutin

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control published their new Toolkit to support the generation of robust estimates of hepatitis C prevalence. This toolkit supports EU Member States in generating robust prevalence estimates for hepatitis C.

The overarching aim of this toolkit is to gain a better understanding of the HCV epidemiology in the EU/EEA.

European surveillance data show on-going transmission of viral hepatitis across the European Union and European Economic Area (EU/EEA). The available notification data however, do not provide a clear epidemiological picture of hepatitis C in Europe. Prevalence data from population surveys are a key source of information to complement the surveillance data for hepatitis C due to the limitations of surveillance for hepatitis: the infection is often asymptomatic and notifications are strongly influenced by local testing practices.

This toolkit offers:

  • An algorithm to assist EU/EEA Member States in their decision-making around selecting the type of HCV prevalence survey that should be undertaken
  • The technical protocol for conducting hepatitis C prevalence surveys in the general population
  • Modelled estimates of the national burden of viral hepatitis C in EU/EEA countries

To read and download the Protocol, follow this link>>>