the care and services that they deserve.
As available treatments will get rid of the
virus in about nine out of ten hepatitis C
patients, depending on their type of hepatitis
C, there is a worry that vulnerable groups with
complicated needs won’t be in a position to
take advantage of these advances which could
potentially transform their health.
Over the coming months and years, services
will need to be restructured to create better
pathways to treatment; however an urgent
need remains to motivate people living with
hepatitis C to access care and services. We need
to help patients realise that they are worth the
best care and treatment: it doesn’t matter how
someone got hepatitis C, no one deserves to
live with a life-threatening virus when today’s
treatments offer a better chance of cure.
BETTER SUPPORT
In response to many of these issues the
I’m
Worth…
campaign has been created to
support people living with hepatitis C. It aims
to address the stigma that many people with
the virus face, encouraging and empowering
people living with hepatitis C to access care
and services no matter how or when they
were infected. The campaign includes a web
resource, materials and activities to help
people feel comfortable and motivated to
access NHS services, which may increase their
chance of cure.
In a series of promotional features in
DDN
over the coming months, we will look in detail
at many of the challenges that the hepatitis C
community faces and explore the role of
professionals in the drug and alcohol field in
supporting them.
1
PHE. Hepatitis C in the UK 2015. Available at:
/
uploads/attachment_data/file/448710/NEW_FIN
AL_HCV_2015_IN_THE_UK_REPORT_28072015_v
2.pdf (Accessed April 2016)
The
I’mWorth…
campaign is supported by
several patient groups with an interest in
hepatitis C in the UK. The campaign, including
this promotional feature, is sponsored and
developed by Gilead Sciences, a science-based
pharmaceutical company.
April 2016, HCV/UK/16-03/CI/1335a
April 2016 |
drinkanddrugsnews
| 11
Promotional feature
To understand why it may be
harder for new advances to help
communities, we need to
understand the unique hepatitis
C environment as it can be very
complicated, especially for people
also living with addiction issues.
A COMPLEX PICTURE
Around 214,000 people are infected with
hepatitis C in the UK. Injecting drugs
continues to be the most common way to
contract hepatitis C, with half of people who
inject drugs (PWID) in England and Wales
thought to have been infected. In addition,
about half of those again are not aware that
they have the virus.
While testing and diagnosis numbers have
increased over the last five years, the number
of people with hepatitis C being treated is still
low.
1
Historically a number of barriers and
challenges have existed preventing people
living with the virus from being treated
successfully. These range from:
•
clinical barriers like the effectiveness
of treatment and side effects
•
environmental barriers like suitable
services for people dealing with
addiction issues
•
personal barriers, such as low
awareness about the seriousness of
hepatitis C and care options available.
SHIFTING BARRIERS
With the recent developments in treatment
giving hope that clinical barriers to care will
shift, the differences that exist among the
population that suffer from hepatitis C mean
other barriers are not so easily fixed. Stigma
linked with hepatitis C infection and substance
use is just one of the many complex challenges
people face which may stop them from getting
People with hepatitis C in the UK have a greater chance of being cured now than at any
other point in the history of the disease. Recent advances in medicines mean that for
many people theywork better than before, treatment times are shorter and the drugs have
fewer side effects and are easier on the body. However, while treatment for hepatitis C is
changing fast, the eventual impact this will have on the societal burden of hepatitis Cmay
be a great deal slower.
we need to
help patients
realise that
they are
worth the
best care and
treatment...
HepatitiS C
:
new Hope...
old problemS
For more information
on the campaign and
to access materials
designed to support
people living with
hepatitis C please visit
Stock imagery, posed by model
