Eliminating hepatitis C virus infection in the prison population: how far have we got?

Dr Kathryn Jack PhD RGN, Advanced Virology Nurse Specialist, Nottingham University

The Public Health policy to introduce an opt-out approach to hepatitis C virus (HCV) testing amongst People in prison (PIP) was initiated in 2014. This presentation tracks the progress of this approach towards achieving the goal of micro-elimination. A middle range sociological theory to explain the barriers and facilitators to HCV test uptake in prisons is presented along with suggested interventions to aid embedding this into routine care. Finally, the upcoming Conquering Hepatitis vIa MicroElimination (CHIME) prison research study, that will use an Implementation Science approach to investigating which interventions are most effective in increasing HCV test uptake in English category B local prisons, will be introduced.