HEALTH chiefs in Dorset have agreed to make the testing and treatment of the potentially fatal hepatitis C virus a high priority.

Healthcare commissioners, councillors, clinical and public health experts met to discuss the success of a pioneering hepatitis C virus (HCV) project currently being carried out in the county and to agree actions to make elimination of the virus achievable.

Leading drug and alcohol charity Addaction has joined forces with the Hepatitis C Trust, supported by biopharmaceutical company AbbVie, to lead the project.

Addaction Bournemouth announced the launch of a peer-to-peer education scheme at the event.

This involves training people who have personal experience of living with hepatitis C (HCV) to share their story with others, encouraging them to get tested and access care where appropriate.

The blood borne virus is a potentially fatal infection, can cause serious liver disease including cirrhosis, liver cancer and end-stage liver failure.

It is vastly more infectious than HIV and is the most prevalent blood borne virus in the UK.

As part of this pioneering project there has already been a targeted awareness campaign, ensuring needle exchange services are easily accessible and that all Addaction staff are trained in HCV awareness, treatment options and can carry out blood spot tests to see whether of not someone has been infected.

At the event at The Queen’s Hotel in Meyrick Road, Bournemouth, health chiefs gathered to discuss how to better identify those with HCV and treat them.

The meeting was chaired by Dr Earl Williams, lead consultant in Hepatology at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

Attendees included the chief executive at The Hepatitis C Trust Charles Gore, GPs, nurses, public health consultants, and representatives from the region’s drug services, Dorset CCG, Healthwatch and AbbVie.

DAAT commissioning manager Karen Wood highlighted the success so far of work around HCV in Bournemouth with 52 per cent of service users having been offered a test and plans afoot to roll out the model to the whole of Dorset.

Consultant nurse in Hepatology Hazel Allen said that in the last six months, 80 patients in the local area were treated for HCV and cured.

Expectations are high that the new peer educator programme at Addaction Bournemouth will increase the number of people being tested, but attendees stressed there was a need for local MPs to do more to ensure that HCV treatment is prioritised across the whole of Dorset.

Addaction’s head of improvement Colleen Homan said: “Elimination can happen; it’s a case of how quickly it will happen and how many lives we can save in the meantime.”