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http://hdl.handle.net/1942/26194
Title: | Harm reduction and viral hepatitis C in European prisons: a cross-sectional survey of 25 countries | Authors: | BIELEN, Rob Stumo, Samya R. Halford, Rachel Werling, Klara Reic, Tatjana Stoever, Heino ROBAEYS, Geert Lazarus, Jeffrey V. |
Issue Date: | 2018 | Source: | HARM REDUCTION JOURNAL, 15 (Art N° 25) | Abstract: | Background: Current estimates suggest that 15% of all prisoners worldwide are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and this number is even higher in regions with high rates of injecting drug use Although haim reduction services such as opioid substitution therapy (OST) and needle and syringe programs (NSPs) are effective in preventing the further spread of HCV and HIV, the extent to which these are available in prisons varies significantly across countries. Methods: The Hep CORE study surveyed liver patient groups from 25 European countries in 2016 and mid 2017 on national policies related to harm reduction, testing/screening, and treatment for HCV in prison settings Results from the cross sectional survey were compared to the data from available reports and the peer reviewed literature to determine the overall degree to which European countries implement evidence based HCV recommendations in prison settings. Results: Patient groups in nine countries (36%) identified prisoners as a high risk population target for HCV testing/ screening Twenty one countries (84%) provide HCV treatment in prisons However, the extent of coverage of these treatment programs varies widely Two countries (8%) have NSPs officially available in prisons in all parts of the country Eleven countries (44%) provide OST in prisons in all parts of the country without additional requirements. Conclusion: Despite the existence of evidence based recommendations, infectious disease prevention measures such as harm reduction programs are inadequate in European prison settings Haim induction, HCV testing/screening, and treatment should be scaled up in prison settings in order to progress towards eliminating HCV as a public health threat. | Notes: | Lazarus, JV (reprint author), Univ Barcelona, Hosp Clin, Barcelona Inst Global Hlth ISGlobal, Carrer Rosello 132,4th, ES-08036 Barcelona, Spain. Univ Copenhagen, Rigshosp, CHIP, Copenhagen, Denmark. jeffrey.lazarus@isglobal.org | Keywords: | Cross-sectional survey; Harm reduction; Hepatitis C; Injecting drug use; Needle and syringe program; Opioid substitution therapy; Policy monitoring; Prison health; Europe | Document URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/1942/26194 | ISSN: | 1477-7517 | e-ISSN: | 1477-7517 | DOI: | 10.1186/s12954-018-0230-1 | ISI #: | 000432307200001 | Rights: | © The Author(s). 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. | Category: | A1 | Type: | Journal Contribution | Validations: | ecoom 2019 |
Appears in Collections: | Research publications |
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