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Hep-CORE: a cross-sectional study of the viral hepatitis policy
                environment reported by patient groups in 25 European countries
                in 2016 and 2017

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INTRODUCTION: The first World Health Organization (WHO) global
                health sector strategy on hepatitis B and C viruses (HBV and
                HCV) has called for the elimination of viral hepatitis as a
                major public health threat by 2030. This study assesses policies
                and programmes in support of elimination efforts as reported by
                patient groups in Europe. METHODS: In 2016 and 2017, hepatitis
                patient groups in 25 European countries participated in a
                cross-sectional survey about their countries' policy responses
                to HBV and HCV. The English-language survey addressed overall
                national response; public awareness/engagement; disease
                monitoring; prevention; testing/diagnosis; clinical assessment;
                and treatment. We performed a descriptive analysis of data and
                compared 2016 and 2017 findings. RESULTS: In 2017, 72% and 52%
                of the 25 European study countries were reported to not have
                national HBV and HCV strategies respectively. The number of
                respondents indicating that their governments collaborated with
                civil society on viral hepatitis control increased from 13 in
                2016 to 18 in 2017. In both 2016 and 2017, patient groups
                reported that 9 countries (36%) have disease registers for HBV
                and 11 (44%) have disease registers for HCV. The number of
                countries reported to have needle and syringe exchange
                programmes available in all parts of the country dropped from 10
                (40%) in 2016 to 8 in 2017 (32%). In both 2016 and 2017, patient
                groups in 5 countries (20%) reported that HCV treatment is
                available in non-hospital settings. From 2016 to 2017, the
                reported number of countries with no restrictions on access to
                direct-acting antivirals for HCV increased from 3 (12%) to 7
                (28%), and 5 fewer countries were reported to refuse treatment
                to people who are currently injecting drugs. CONCLUSIONS: The
                patient-led Hep-CORE study offers a unique perspective on the
                readiness of study countries to undertake comprehensive viral
                hepatitis elimination efforts. Viral hepatitis monitoring should
                be expanded to address policy issues more comprehensively and to
                incorporate civil society perspectives, as is the case with
                global HIV monitoring. Policy components should also be
                explicitly added to the WHO framework for monitoring
                country-level progress against viral hepatitis.

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Reproducció del document publicat a:
                http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/jia2.25052

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Journal of the International AIDS Society, 2018, vol. 21, num. S2, p. e25052

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Articles publicats en revistes (ISGlobal)

# metadata.dc.title[].value
Hep-CORE: a cross-sectional study of the viral hepatitis policy
                environment reported by patient groups in 25 European countries
                in 2016 and 2017