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Micro-eliminating hepatitis C in a network of 47 English Prisons through an industry, prison healthcare and patient organisation partnership
Journal of Hepatology ; 77:S554, 2022.
Article in English | EMBASE | ID: covidwho-1996644
ABSTRACT
Background and

aims:

National Health Service England (NHSE) plans to eliminate Hepatitis C (HCV) in England by 2025, five years earlier than World Health Organisation goals. With a reported HCV prevalence of ∼6% in male prisons, and ∼12% in female prisons, secure environments are an essential component of this elimination plan. In 2020, NHSE defined HCV micro-elimination as ³95% of prison residents tested within the previous 12 months, ³90% of RNA positive patients treated or initiated on treatment and presence of a robust system to review ongoing testing and treatment performance to ensure these targets are maintained.

Method:

To support NHSE in their HCV Elimination Program, a partnership between Gilead Sciences, Practice Plus Group (PPG) and the Hepatitis C Trust (HCT)was formed in 2019. PPG is the provider of healthcare to 47 English prisons with approximately 30, 000 residents. PPG Regional BBV Lead Nurses, and Gilead Medical Scientists worked with prison and HCV stakeholders to optimise test and treat pathways for new prison admissions. Whole prison HCV Intensive Test and Treat events (HITTs) were also run in targeted prisons to ensure testing of residents who were incarcerated before these optimisations were implemented.

Results:

Following pathway optimisation across the PPG network of 47 prisons, the HCV screening within 7 days of prison entry increased from 41% in May 2019 to 84% in October 2021. This increase was achieved despite there being significant restrictions to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 being in place across all English prisons. HITTs have been performed in 15 PPG prisons to-date. 1, 909 new RNA+ diagnoses were made during this time with 1, 848 patients started on direct-acting antiviral treatments. By November 2021, 16 out of the 47 prisons have been given micro-elimination status by NHSE with 4 more having submitted data demonstrating achievement of this target and awaiting decision. A further 4 more prisons are on track to achieve micro-elimination by April 2022.

Conclusion:

This partnership has demonstrated that, even during a global pandemic, it is possible to achieve the micro-elimination of HCV in a defined setting. Maintenance of micro-elimination status is essential if we are to achieve the WHO HCV targets, requiring robust pathways that are regularly adapted to the changing environment, and systems for tracking performance, both of which have been put in place by this partnership.
Keywords

Full text: Available Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: EMBASE Language: English Journal: Journal of Hepatology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article

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Full text: Available Collection: Databases of international organizations Database: EMBASE Language: English Journal: Journal of Hepatology Year: 2022 Document Type: Article