Increase access to hepatitis C (HCV) testing and care in drug services — a toolkit
Supporting the hepatitis C elimination agenda – an EMCDDA toolkit to increase access to testing and care in drug services
People who inject drugs (PWID) 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.
Assessing the needs: a step-by-step guide
The EMCDDA developed 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.
Hepatitis C: new models of care for drug services
The EMCDDA collected 11 case studies documenting how drug treatment and harm-reduction service providers in eight countries are supporting PWID’s access to testing and treatment, using innovative and creative implementation practices and developing new models of care for this important target group.
Knowledge questionnaire and other hepatitis materials
The EMCDDA Knowledge Questionnaire aims to refresh knowledge on HCV and HBV transmission, testing and care for PWID among those working in drug treatment settings; to increase awareness of staff of the importance of knowing their own status; to provide a tool for managers of drug treatment facilities, or other actors, who would like to identify the training needs of staff.
Resources
National experiences/practical implementation of the manual
Policy
Epidemiology
Recommendations for practice
- ECDC Public health guidance on HIV, hepatitis B and C testing in the EU/EEA
- WHO Guidelines for the care and treatment of persons diagnosed with chronic hepatitis C virus infection (2018)
- WHO Guidelines for the prevention, care and treatment of persons with chronic hepatitis B infection (2015)
- WHO Guidelines on hepatitis B and C testing (2017)
- WHO Global health sector strategy on viral hepatitis 2016-2021
- EASL Recommendations on Treatment of Hepatitis C 2018
- EACS guidelines
EMCDDA publications and resources
- Hepatitis C among drug users in Europe: epidemiology, treatment and prevention
- Drug-related infectious diseases in Europe: update from the EMCDDA expert network (May 2020)
- EMCDDA meeting on the key indicator on Drug-related Infectious Diseases (DRID) 15-16 June 2015, Lisbon
- EMCDDA knowledge questionnaire on viral hepatitis for drug service staff
More information
As HCV treatment is now highly effective, the main priority and challenge is to efficiently identify infected individuals to treat. Therefore, this EMCDDA hepatitis toolkit is focusing on hepatitis C testing and care. It aims to support countries in reaching the elimination goal by increasing access of people who inject drugs (PWID) to testing and care through drug services. Building on the framework for response development and implementation presented in the Health and social responses to drug problems: a European guide (2017), a set of new materials and tools are being developed under three stages: problem definition, response selection and implementation.