{"id":46917,"date":"2026-02-18T14:36:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:36:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bnssghealthiertogether.org.uk\/?page_id=46917"},"modified":"2026-02-18T14:36:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T14:36:31","slug":"optimising-hepatitis-c-surveillance-for-women-who-inject-drugs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/bnssghealthiertogether.org.uk\/ps\/integrated-care-board\/research-and-evidence\/our-research-portfolio\/type-2-rcf-funded-projects\/optimising-hepatitis-c-surveillance-for-women-who-inject-drugs\/","title":{"rendered":"Optimising Hepatitis C surveillance for women who inject drugs"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u062f \"\u0645\u0627\u0689\u06cc\u0648\u0644-\u06f1\" \u0633\u0631\u0644\u06cc\u06a9 \u0634\u0648\u06cc \u0628\u0631\u062e\u0647<\/span><\/a>
\r\n
\r\n

Optimising Hepatitis C surveillance for women who inject drugs<\/h1>\n

\u062a\u0645\u0648\u06cc\u0644<\/h2>\n

\u062f NHS \u0628\u0631\u0633\u067c\u0644\u060c \u0634\u0645\u0627\u0644\u064a \u0633\u0648\u0645\u0631\u0633\u06cc\u067c \u0627\u0648 \u062c\u0646\u0648\u0628\u064a \u06ab\u0644\u0648\u0633\u067c\u0631\u0634\u0627\u06cc\u0631 ICB \u062f \u0685\u06cc\u0693\u0646\u06d0 \u0648\u0693\u062a\u06cc\u0627 \u062a\u0645\u0648\u06cc\u0644.<\/p>\n

\u0633\u062a\u0648\u0646\u0632\u0647 \u0685\u0647 \u062f\u0647\u061f<\/h2>\n

Aligned with the ICB priorities of tackling inequalities, preventing illness and treating people earlier, this work focuses on hepatitis C follow-up testing for women who inject drugs who are at increased risk infection, and reinfection.<\/p>\n

Hepatitis C can cause serious liver damage, cancer, and early death if untreated, but it is curable. Over the last decade, the UK has scaled up testing and treatment for people who inject drugs (the main group of people affected by the hepatitis C Virus). It is recommended that people who inject drugs and have been treated for hepatitis C receive annual testing to check for reinfection, with retreatment provided as needed. However, evidence suggests that this routine follow-up rarely happens beyond the first year (for either men or women). The aim of this ongoing work is to develop recommendations to optimise follow-up testing interventions. To date, our focus has been on people who inject drugs as a whole. However, evidence indicates that women face disproportionately higher risks of hepatitis C infection and encounter additional barriers to accessing community drug and alcohol services and harm reduction support compared with men.<\/p>\n

\u062f \u0685\u06d0\u0693\u0646\u06d0 \u0645\u0648\u062e\u0647 \u0685\u0647 \u062f\u0647\u061f<\/h2>\n

The funding will support essential patient and public involvement (PPI) activities to ensure the intervention is tailored to women\u2019s specific needs and experiences. This will be achieved through three key components:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. We will test the usability \/ acceptability \/ feasibility of the intervention using \u201cthink-aloud\u201d interviews with women who inject drugs, to refine and optimise the follow-up testing approach. Up to ten interviews will be completed in iterative cycles, testing, revising the intervention plans, and re-testing to ensure that each round of feedback informs meaningful improvements.<\/li>\n
  2. We will hold expert panels with service providers who support women who inject drugs and with women who have lived experience. These panels will review and refine the intervention to ensure it meets the needs of subgroups of women at highest risk of hepatitis C reinfection, including young women, women with a history of imprisonment, women who are pregnant or have infants, and women involved in the sex industry.<\/li>\n
  3. The funding will provide dedicated time to develop a trial proposal and complete research methods training, focusing on recruitment for randomised controlled trials.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \u062f\u0627 \u0628\u0647 \u0685\u0646\u06ab\u0647 \u062a\u0631\u0644\u0627\u0633\u0647 \u0634\u064a\u061f<\/h2>\n

    With the help of the Bristol Trials Unit, and through collaborations with colleagues at the UK Health Security Agency, and Public Health Scotland (via our NIHR HPRU EBS team), we will design a study to test the effectiveness of the follow-up testing approach that we have optimised, to identify whether this approach has had the intended outcomes which would be:<\/p>\n