The NTA has welcomed the report by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) on hepatitis C, published on Wednesday 25 February 2009, which makes a series of recommendations to prevent the spread of the virus. It is estimated that more than 80 per cent of current hepatitis C infections are due to injecting drugs, and that around 50 per cent of injecting drug users in the UK may be infected with hepatitis C. Approximately half of those may be unaware they are infected. The report makes it clear that hepatitis C remains a substantial public health problem.

 

The evidence from the report says that the most effective way of reducing Hepatitis C amongst injecting drug users is a combination of Opiate Substitution Therapy and the provision of Needle and Syringe Exchange Programmes. The report is published as NICE releases guidance dedicated to the provision of Needle and Syringe Exchange Programmes, providing a blueprint of best practice for services in England which aim to reduce the harm caused by problem drug use [link to NTA webpage here]. The NTA has welcomed this guidance as part of the wider NICE suite which advocates balanced local drug treatment systems that include harm reduction services alongside substitute prescribing and abstinence orientated approaches.

 

The ACMD’s recommendations to prevent the spread of hepatitis C include the importance of combining those interventions, and highlights needle and syringe distribution services as a means to facilitate entry into drug treatment, so that users are able to make lasting change and stop injecting altogether.

 

The NTA commented that the report underpinned why investing in harm reduction services should remain a key priority for local drug partnerships, and supports NICE’s conclusion that it is vital for every area to provide effective needle and syringe programmes based on local need.

 

In recognition of the issue of Hepatitis C for injecting drug users, the NTA has taken the following action as part of the joint Department of Health/NTA Reducing Drug Related Harm: An Action Plan.

 

The NTA regional teams ensure that access to Hepatitis C testing and treatment provision is addressed in the treatment plans of commissioning partnerships across the country as part of their annual planning processes.

 

The NTA has commissioned the Health Protection Agency to publish Hepatitis C prevalence data by partnership area.

 

The NTA has ensured the creation and free dissemination of a wide range of harm reduction resources including booklets, posters, and DVDs giving more information about the nature and responses to Hepatitis C available from www.harmreductionworks.org.uk

 

The NTA, in partnership with the Healthcare Commission, reviewed the harm reduction responses (which include access to Hepatitis C services) of all commissioning partnerships across the country.  Almost all areas scored poorly with regard to responses to Hepatitis C.  The NTA recently publish Good Practice in Harm reduction, which presents examples of good practice based on interviews with those who scored highly in the review.

The ACMD’s report, ‘The primary prevention of Hepatitis C among injecting drug users’ is available here.