Hepatitis C and injecting drug use: impact, costs and policy options
EMCDDA, Lisbon, December 2004
Publication type:
MonographsIssue:
7
Summary:
Hepatitis C infections occurring in recent years in the European Union may cost countries billions of euros in future healthcare, according to research published in this monograph.
A conglomeration of state-of-the-art research on hepatitis C, drug use and public health methods, this publication presents analyses on the impact and costs of the disease among injecting drug users, as a basis for sound policy-making. Other issues addressed include: quality of life; treatment, surveillance and prevention; and the cost-effectiveness of measures such as needle-exchange programmes and substitution therapy.
Hepatitis C affects an estimated 170 million people worldwide and at least a million, but possibly several million, people in Western Europe who are at risk of developing liver cirrhosis or liver cancer. It is a highly infectious and potentially fatal blood-borne disease that attacks the liver and for which there is as yet no vaccine.
Table of contents
- Part I: Natural history, treatment, quality of life, epidemiology and prevention
- Part II: Models of hepatitis C in injecting drug users
- Part III: Healthcare costs of drug-related hepatitis C infection
- Part IV: Wider costs of drug use
- Part V: Cost-effectiveness of needle and syringe programmes and methadone maintenance
Pages:
389Price:
EUR 20ISBN/ISSN:
92-9168-168-7